Truth or Dare?
by StandByMe4ever787
Summary: EDITS IN CHAPTERS, DIFFERENT CHRIS! When you're playing games with people from different cliques, things begin to get twisted. Do you stick by beliefs and rumors or by feelings? Here's the real question: truth or dare?
1. Appearances: Introduction

Appearances. Appearances seem to be everything. It determines your status in this world. Either that or your wealth. But we're gonna take it a little slower and narrow it down some.

High school. Appearances couldn't be more important in high school. Appearances establish which social group (or as everyone calls it, clique) you belong to. Not only do you have to have the right appearance, but so do your parents. Your parents are important to the other students. They'll know if they should beat you up with words and fists, avoid you, uncomfortably converse, talk casually, or invite you to sit with them at lunch. Solely based on appearance. It's very much unfair, right? But people still stand by appearances today.

Those people, the ones who get judged. They feel it. They feel that ridicule, that mocking, that pain. It socks them hard in the stomach, or hangs over their head.

The ones who stand by appearances. They could never quite understand that those nerds, nobodies, and lowlifes had feelings.

It was also extremely difficult for them to comprehend that one of their group finally did begin to understand.


	2. Oreos and Yearbooks

A/N: wooooo first chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I had been smart enough to create the character of Chris Chambers, I'd be too busy bragging about him being my character instead of writing this. Same goes for the other characters except the ones you've never seen before.

"You're late."

"I'm not _that _late."

"Yes you are."

"What, by like, five minutes?"

"No, three. _Three, _Chris, _three_!"

Chris Chambers grinned as Gordie Lachance opened the screen door to his house warily. They strolled into the kitchen. Gordie went to the refrigerator to grab some milk, while Chris practically dove into the pantry, plopped himself into a tall rolley chair, and tore open the Oreos package. Gordie watched in dismay with his eyebrows raised in disapproval as Chris wolfed down four Oreos at once.

"I can see your mouth is very large. In more ways than one," Gordie countered, pouring milk for himself and his friend.

"All the better to eat more Oreos and stick more girls' tongues down my throat, my dear," Chris replied.

"That is not a nice way to talk about the _aliens_!" Gordie gasped.

"Who are you, my mother?"

"You could be _my _mother, you pansy."

"But you look like a mother, so in fact it is you who is the mother."

"Well—shit!" Gordie swore loudly as he spilled milk down the front of his shirt.

"Ah, poor Gordo!" Chris exclaimed.

Gordie unrolled some paper towels and wiped down the rather tacky black-white tiled counter.

"Come on, I've got to go change my shirt," Gordie told him, tossing the now milk-soaked towels into the garbage can.

"I can finally see what's under your shirt! YES!" Chris cheered.

Gordie gave him a playful punch on the arm and the two friends trouped up the stairs to Gordie's room, which was now decked out in all of his writing achievement awards he had been getting since the 7th grade. Chris stretched out on Gordie's bed lazily, scanning some of the pictures resting on his bedside table while he dug in his dresser for a shirt. Gordie and Denny in one of those cheesy family portrait type things. Gordie and Denny fishing. Gordie and Chris with their arms draped over each other's shoulders. Gordie, Chris……..whoa, Teddy and Vern. God, they hadn't talked to them in ages. It only seemed like yesterday when they were playing cards in the treehouse or singing The Ballad of Paladin obnoxiously. Time had flown, it really had. Dang, it had been six years.

"Alright, stop looking at my pictures and let's get to some _real _good stuff," Gordie said, smiling, his doe eyes bright.

"Ok, ok, same thing we do every year before school starts?"

"You know it."

Chris then reached under Gordie's bed, milling around with his hand and not even looking. In ten seconds flat, Chris pulled out five yearbooks.

"Damn, _five_?" Gordie asked incredulously, "Are we _that _old?"

"Yeah," Chris cackled, "You could have gotten your driver's license two years ago."

"Oh rot in hell Chambers."

"Be a snot-nosed goody-goodie in heaven Lachance."

Chris flipped open the yearbook when they were juniors, last year.

"Seniors. You hear that Gordie? Fucking _seniors_!" Chris said excitedly.

"Whoa man, you ready for school?" Gordie questioned.

"When am I ever?" Chris muttered, "It's just—one more year. That's all I have to go through. Just _one more_."

"Yeah, I'm proud of you man," Gordie responded.

Chris scanned through the yearbook. He looked at all of the students, smiling and laughing and having a good time with their friends, who made fun of him throughout his years in high school. So many faces…….one face caught his full attention. Even in black and white, that face was still so beautiful. It was so angelic, so breathtaking. The tiny dimples that formed in the cheeks during a smile, the shine of the hair, the way those eyes sparkled….even through the picture. But in those eyes, he could see mocking. Inside that head was a brain full of malevolence and wickedness. Behind that chest was a heart. A heart so black and empty it could break another heart so pure in one word flat. Even though an angelic face, he could almost envision those tiny, pointy horns slowly growing out of her blonde head.

Gordie looked over at the yearbook to see who his best friend was ogling so intensely. He then looked back up at him.

"Ew," he said simply.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Chris agreed glumly.

"Sucks she's really pretty though. Why are you looking at _her _anyway?"

Chris's face flushed pink.

"I know you haven't had sex in awhile, but looking at some poor, innocent, bitchy bystander isn't going to help you," Gordie teased.

"Shut up," Chris hissed.

"Ah, I'm just kidding," Gordie responded.

"Oh yeah? Well who do _you _think is the best-looking in the yearbook? And _don't _point to my picture," Chris ordered, smirking.

"Hardy har har," Gordie said sarcastically, "Oh let's see here…."

Gordie traced his finger along the different rows of his junior class, passing up many of the popular and gorgeous girls. He finally stopped reluctantly in the third to last row, 2nd to last picture. Chris raised his eyebrows. He looked up at Gordie from the yearbook.

"No way."

Gordie shut the yearbook.

"No way."

Gordie averted his eyes.

"No _fucking _way."

Gordie blushed a violent shade of red.

"Gordo, that's awesome! You think she's cute! Aww-"

"It's not just cute, Chris," Gordie admitted seriously, "I find her really attractive."

"Really pretty?"

"Really pretty."

"Really beautiful?"

"Really beautiful."

"Really gorgeous?"

"Really gorgeous."

"Dead sexy?"

Gordie did a double take at Chris.

"Dead sexy? That makes no sense…" Gordie argued.

"Just answer the question."

"Alright, alright, I find her downright dead sexy."

Chris grinned at his best friend. "You should ask her out Gordo, she'd definitely-"

But Chris was interrupted by someone bursting through the door to Gordie's room. She zoomed in and collapsed on the bed in between Chris and Gordie, the door shutting loudly behind her. She bounced up and down while lying down with the boys; her head bobbing like a cork in the ocean, her dark auburn hair splaying around the bed.

"Hi guys," she greeted animatedly, "Sorry I'm late Gordo, but I ran into a couple of problems trying to get here."

"Care to elaborate, Natalie?" Gordie asked her.

"Why of course dear Gordie. Ok so I got _up_ late because my retarded little brother broke my alarm clock-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back it up there Nats," Chris interrupted, grinning, "Why didn't you hear the alarm clock breaking?"

"And it's why you are _late_, not why you got up late," Gordie pointed out, smirking, "Oh, and you don't have a little brother."

"Oh yeah," Natalie smiled sheepishly, "Oops."

Natalie Crandall was the youngest in her rather dysfunctional family who lived about six blocks down from Gordie's. Her parents were strict, lean, and harsh people who had moved to Castle Rock three years ago because of complaints from their past neighborhood. She had an older sister who was now in her sophomore year of college. Her sister had been a quiet individual who knew when to loosen up and when to shut up. Natalie was very different from both her parents and her sister, that was the clearest fact in the world for Chris and Gordie. Although she was a close friend to both of the boys and loved them both, she seemed to be a little bit more attached to Gordie; this was probably because she used him and his house as an escape from her parents.

"Hey Gordo?"

"What Nats?"

"Did you know that Gordo in Spanish means fat? I think we should start calling you….El feo y flaco chico!"

"Huh?"

"The ugly and skinny boy."

Chris burst out laughing, sitting up and pointing at Gordie. Natalie immediately sat up and pointed at Chris, her green eyes glowing.

"Don't bully! I'm surprised at you Christopher; you never struck me as a bully!"

"Did the rest of the town?"

"Yeah. This town is full of bullies and dickheads."

"What's a dickhead?"

"………You."


	3. Dare to Date

A/N: Aww thanks for the wonderful reviews guys! Oh, I'll probably be updating a lot quicker now since summer has basically started for me. But enjoy!

"JEN!"

"Oh my gosh, it's so great to see you!"

"You look like a _babe_!"

"I haven't always?" Jenna Malone's icy, smooth tone questioned.

Alaina Harvey bit her lip at her mistake. "No no no, you have always looked gorgeous. You just look….umm…"

"I look _what_, Alaina? Do I look _better _than I usually do today?"

"No, it's just you look a lot more….radiant today, I guess you could say."

Jenna's emerald eyes flashed at the curly-haired blonde and the rest of the occupants at the lunch table. "Is it true? Do I look much more radiant today?"

Everyone kept quiet. Jenna sighed impatiently. Everyone was afraid of her. But that's the way she liked it. Jenna Malone was the Queen Bee of Castle Rock. Her family was one of the wealthiest in town, living here almost all their lives. Her father was the mayor of Castle Rock. With this for the entire town to keep in mind, everyone was almost _forced _to love her. She lived in a mansion right smack dab in the middle of The View. The View was where all of the rich families lived. But not only was Jenna rich, but she was popular. She was the head of the clique of the senior richies. This was the group that everyone looked up to and admired and worshipped. So basically everyone loved her. And the ones who didn't were those poor lowlifes. And no one cared what they thought. Jenna was also pretty. No, not pretty. Guys would call her "drop-dead gorgeous" and "flat-out sexy". And the other girls in the school would agree, except they'd be jealous. But Jenna couldn't blame them. They had plenty to be envious of. Her tall structure, her bright green eyes, her high cheekbones, her flawless skin, her platinum blonde hair, her curvy figure. She was gorgeous, she was rich, and she was the head of the popular clique. What more could a girl want?

"Hey Jenna, haven't seen you today," Serena Austen greeted, pushing Alaina out of the way to sit next to her.

"Hi Serena," Jenna acknowledged dully.

Serena Austen was the only girl in Jenna's clique who could ever try to stand up to her. She was loved almost as much, but was still second-best to Jenna, although one of her "best" friends. Serena was equally rich and almost equally beautiful. Her sleek, straight chestnut hair and her flashing, breathtaking hazel eyes usually had the guys tossing off in the bathroom if they already weren't to Jenna. Serena could be very annoying though, trying to steal the title of Queen Bee from her. She was also definitely the most obnoxious in the clique, and _that _was saying something. Basically they were friends in company, enemies when not.

"Mhmm girl you look fine!" Serena complimented.

"Thanks, you too."

"Of course."

"So," Jenna started, "Had any flings this summer?"

"You know it," Serena confirmed with a wink.

"Who?"

"Ah, no one really," Serena answered with a shrug.

"Oh, so you _didn't _have a fling?" Jenna asked loudly, causing a few heads at the table to turn.

"_No_, I did," Serena corrected angrily, "They just weren't that important. Not that big of a deal. They actually sucked in bed."

"No way. Who?" Jenna asked.

"You wouldn't know him," Serena told her casually, "He lives in Canada. I met him at Niagara Falls."

"Mhmm," Jenna responded, but she knew it was a flat-out lie.

Suddenly, a group of people walking across the lunch hall caught her eye. There was a very lanky boy with brown hair and doe eyes, an atrocious looking girl with dark auburn hair, and……Jenna smirked. Her favorite person in the world to make fun of. Christopher Chambers. Oh, what a lowlife! The biggest thief and bad boy ever to live in Castle Rock. This kid supposedly hit his siblings, stole from the bank, and never took a shower. He was so much fun to bully and gossip about, because it was something _everyone _could do. Everyone gossiped and teased the boy, and with good reason. Although sometimes the students were scared that he was going to bring a gun to school and shoot them all. He obviously had received poor treatment from his family, but who cared? Jenna certainly didn't.

"Have your eye on Chambers I see," Serena's voice took Jenna out of her thoughts.

"Me? Wouldn't waste one millisecond of my life," Jenna declared, "And if I did, it would be a plot to pull a prank on him. Oh god, that would be hilarious."

"Hmm….yes, a prank….." Serena said seriously, sipping her Diet Coke daintily.

Jenna rolled her eyes and started a conversation with Alaina, who still seemed a little timid with her.

"Have you seen the way Julie's been curling her hair?"

"Ugh it's disgusting. Her hair looks like a sheep dog's coat."

"A beehive."

"A bramble bush."

"A Christmas tree."

"Like she'd been struck by lightening."

The girls laughed obnoxiously.

"That's it!" Serena cried.

Jenna immediately turned to her. "What?"

"I've got the _perfect _prank to pull on Chris Chambers."

"Really?" Jenna said with a smirk, "Lay it on me."

Serena smirked back. "I dare you to date Chris Chambers for two months."

Jenna's face paled. "What?"

"You heard me," Serena told her, "I dare you to date Chris Chambers for two months."

"How is this a prank on _him_!" Jenna cried, "You can't tell me to date that scumbag for _two effing months_!"

"I didn't tell you," Serena said slyly, "I _dared _you. I thought the Queen Bee never backed down from a challenge."

"Who said I was backing down?" Jenna exclaimed, "Because I'm not. I'll date this guy for two months. But what's your point here?"

"The point is that when the two months are up and you have Mr. Chambers wrapped around your little ringed pinky finger….you immediately cut off your 'ties' with him. Once two months are up, _snap_! You come straight back to us. And Chris Chambers's heart will be _broken_."

Jenna smirked widely. This had to be the worst and cruelest idea Serena ever had. And boy, did she love every minute of it. Except that she was going to be stuck with Chambers for _two months_. But Queens don't back down from a dare. They never do. If they do, they aren't worthy of being Queen. They've taken their status in this world and _smashed _it. Then you would have to start from scratch. Everyone would look at you in shame. You'd be dead. Basically, no one would _like _you. And even though she'd have to date the most hated guy in school, she'd immediately get back into the group when two months were up.

"I'll do it," Jenna confirmed.

"Excellent," Serena replied, smirking, "You better get started. You have to make him fall in love with you, you know."

"I'll start tomorrow morning," Jenna informed, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulders.

She looked over at Chambers, who was laughing hysterically with that lanky boy (_Lachance I think his name is_) and the auburn hair girl (_Crayon? Cranberry? Cranshall?_). She was going to make this boy fall in love with her and then break his heart. And boy, would he have the hardest time picking up the pieces.

_Midnight. Her hair was awry, clashing wonderfully with his. She could feel his sweat dripping from his torso onto hers, making her chest quiver with anticipation. His breath circled in a cloud over her face hard, but smelling like cigarettes and peppermint. His hungry kisses trailed from her luscious lips to her breasts, sending pleasure throughout her entire body. His coarse hands traveled smoothly across her milky body, creating an odd sensation she had never felt before. His whole body on hers made her heart beat faster. Faster. Faster. Everything was moving faster. Faster. Faster. Fast people move fast. Faster and faster and faster. _

She awoke, her hair a mess. She awoke, her sweat running down her torso. She awoke, her breath smelling horrid. She awoke, her lips pursing and unpursing. She awoke, her hands rubbing her legs fervently. She awoke, slowly.

A/N: Hope that last bit didn't freak anyone out. It's as much as a sex scene anyone's getting out of this story, that's for sure LOL.


	4. To Excuse, To Loathe, To be Stupid

A/N: This chapter takes place on the same day as the last chapter did, during lunch period. Main focus of the story is Chris and Jenna (but of course), but the other characters will definitely be a huge part in this. Love you guys.

"To pee, or not to pee, _that _is the question."

"Nats, just get up and go!" Gordie ordered.

"Alrighty!" Natalie agreed, standing up from the lunch table.

She planted her feet firmly on the disgusting cafeteria floor and waited. She gave a dramatic, fake sigh.

"I DIDN'T MEAN LIKE THAT!" Gordie shouted at her.

"Jesus Christ, get mad at me because you give bad directions!" Natalie scoffed mockingly, and then exited out of the gray cafeteria doors to the bathroom.

Chris leaned over the table towards Gordie and propped his head on his hands. Gordie kept chewing his ham sandwich, staring back at Chris. He gave a loud, obnoxious swallow.

"What?"

"You like her."

"Who?"

"Natalie, that's who."

"I do not, she's like my best friend besides you," Gordie argued.

"Sure," Chris responded sarcastically, rolling his ocean colored eyes.

"Ah go to hell," Gordie replied, flipping his friend the bird.

"Too late, I'm already in it," a voice said sardonically from behind Gordie.

He turned around and Chris looked up and saw Natalie's best girlfriend, Catherine Spencer, fondly called Cat by the gang. Catherine was close to Chris and Gordie like Natalie, but lived on the other side of town.

"Hola chica!" Natalie greeted enthusiastically, coming up behind her, "Como estas?"

"Bien, y tu?" Cat replied, taking a seat next to Chris.

"Muy bien, now that I have gone to the bathroom," Natalie answered truthfully, plopping back down onto the cafeteria bench, "And now that I'm sitting next to Gordie."

Chris immediately raised his eyebrows and smirked subtlety at Gordie.

"How many times have I told you?" Cat asked, frustrated, "You go to the bathroom _during _class instead of during _break and lunch_. You miss more class and lose no free time that way. DUH."

"'Scuse me!" Natalie exclaimed mockingly.

"Yeah Natalie excuse you," Chris agreed.

"Excuse _you_, Chris!"

"Well I say excuse Natalie!"

"Excuse Gordie, Natalie. He knows nothing."

"Excuse you Chris, that was rude!"

"Excuse you, don't tell Chris what's rude!"

"Excuse Natalie, she doesn't know her manners."

"Why don't I excuse you?"

"Excuse me," Cat cut in quickly, standing up and walking away.

The other three stopped excusing each other and stayed dead silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop.

"How rude," Natalie remarked loudly.

Catherine made her way towards the never-ending line of students near the food section of the cafeteria. The last person in line was the most gorgeous person she had ever seen in her whole life. And coming from Cat, that's a huge honor. She cautiously and slowly stepped into line behind him, her heart pounding so loud she could hear it in her ears. She could smell his fragrance and she felt like sighing from its wonderful scent. She studied his insanely tall and muscular figure, gained from many intense football practices and games. His pure black hair was so shiny and smooth, she wanted to reach out and touch it. But she didn't. She couldn't. She could _not _say a word to him. He was a popular although rather stupid (what person on the football team isn't?) guy. What was she going to say? "Hi, we don't know each other, but I think you're gorgeous, wanna make out?"

He turned his head casually, sensing someone behind him. Cat gazed at the only pure blue eye she could see. It made her melt.

"Hey," the guy said casually, his voice deep and rich.

Shivers shot up her spine, giving her an icy feeling.

"Hi," she croaked out.

"Hey wait a second, aren't you Catherine Spencer?" he asked enthusiastically.

She could barely speak. She couldn't let him hear that scratchy tone again, so she just nodded. How the hell did this guy know her name? He was a jock, she was considered a loser.

"Boss!" he exclaimed, "I think I'm in your…oh no, that's that other girl who looks like you….except she's got blonde highlights in her brown hair instead of chestnut like yours….."

"Heythat'scoolbutyouseeI'vegottogobye!" Cat blurted and then scurried off.

She didn't look back, but she immediately regretted what she did. How could she be so stupid, he actually sounded interested in her! But no, she had to blow it! He probably thought she was the biggest dork…..wasn't he the captain of the football team and the quarterback? Or did he play the linebacker….AH. Cat swore to herself that she was going to go talk to him again. But not now.

The guy shrugged his shoulders as the tall brunette scampered off. Did his stance scare her or something? What had he said? Ah, oh well. That was the last time he tried to pick someone up from a different clique. He would have known who she was if she was from the same clique, but then how did he know her name? Well, he did have a good memory; maybe he just heard one of the popular girls from the View gossiping about it.

That was definitely one thing he didn't understand. He was always invited to sit with the boys and girls from the View, when he lived on the other side of town. He wasn't too rich, and he used to not be popular at hell. Hell, he took the shop courses. What was so special about him that he had the honor to be invited to all the parties and get-togethers of the popular crowd? Ah, it might just be the football and the looks.

"VERN TESSIO, MOVE YOUR ASS NOW!" a voice shouted from across the cafeteria.

"Coming!" he responded, getting out of line without any food (his favorite thing) and trudging over to his best friend.

Serena Austen tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her older brother come by and pick her up from school. God, it had been the worst day of school she had ever had. Her teacher snapped at her, which really shocked her, for being fifteen minutes late to class. Well, c'mon, what if she walked into English with lipstick on her teeth? What an embarrassment. Why would the teacher snap at her like that? They never did before, even when she skipped a class one time during junior year when Harvey Clancos took her to Castle Rock Park and he felt her up. Serena frowned at the memory. It had been a good time physically, but it was nothing emotionally. She was annoying herself since that time. She had begun to look at the emotional aspect of it too. But she didn't dare tell any of her friends that emotions were important too. They'd all dump her, and then what would happen? No friends, no popularity, no nothing.

The only good thing about today was the dare she had made at lunch. She was more than excited for the next two months. No more Jenna. Ever. Like the clique would take her back after dating Christopher Chambers for two months. Good luck, bitch. So now all of the attention would be focused on Serena for the most important year: senior year. And not only did the dare bring Jenna down and Serena up, but Chris Chambers would get hurt. Maybe even cry. Serena snickered at the thought. Ah, she loved herself.

But then there he was. Across the street, plain as day. Serena's smile disappeared quickly and her hazel eyes widened. Her throat closed up, and she felt like she would never get oxygen into her lungs again. So she gasped, and dropped all of her books on the sidewalk. She didn't bend down to pick them up, but just stared at him. He happened to look over at the school casually and saw her. He smirked brilliantly, but his eyes gave his whole face pained expressions. Serena continued to stare, as he continued to stroll down the sidewalk. She studied his every movement, his every step, his every involuntary twitch of his hand, his every drop of sweat slide down his beautiful face. She remembered her dream, and shook her head to clear the thought of it. Soon, he walked out of Serena's view, and she scowled. How could someone like him make her act like an idiot school girl? She loathed him more than anything. But did she really?


	5. It's the Start

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them! I've noticed that you guys are wondering who this mystery man is…..guess in a review (because it's fun haha) and if you are right I'll reward you! Oh and there's something about Calculus in here, sorry if I'm wrong I know nothing about it….I'm a rising freshman haha.

Jenna stared up at the clock in the Calculus room. Five minutes until lunch. And boy was she scared….

Scared? Jenna almost scoffed at herself at the thought. She was _never _scared. Ever. But what would you call this feeling building up in her stomach? Nervousness? Anxiousness? Who knew? But what she knew was that she didn't like it….she never got this feeling before.

But in five minutes she was going to begin the dreaded dare, and nothing could stop her from doing it. A dare was a dare. If you don't do a dare, you're out. You're friendless. Your popularity would be stripped from you and you'd be bare and nothing. She really didn't want to do this. But what say did she have?

"The square root of 499 divided by pi times q plus x subtracted by the square root of pi times 707 is equal to what variable?" the calculus teacher rattled off, shaking Jenna out of her thoughts, "Mr. Chambers?"

All eyes directed their attention towards Chambers. Shocked, he looked up from his notebook, his eyes wide. The room was dead silent, filled with anticipation, waiting for him to give his most likely wrong answer. The teacher barely noticed this though.

"Mr. Chambers?"

Chambers bit his lower lip in panic and stared hard at the board with as much concentration as he could muster.

"Umm….is it equal to q?" Chambers ventured.

"Incorrect," the teacher snapped rudely, "It's equal to y-"

The teacher was interrupted by loud, raucous, and obnoxious laughter from the class, clearly laughing at Chambers's mistake. The teacher didn't stop them though, but just waited patiently for them to finish. Chambers put his head in his hands and started scratching the top of his head furiously, as if punishing himself for making such an error. There were only four students who weren't laughing at him. Jenna didn't know why she was one of them. She wanted to kick herself for not laughing, but then she made herself an excuse: it was training so the dare could work and so Chambers wouldn't be suspicious of her later on when they become friends or more than friends or….whatever. But deep down she knew the real reason: she hadn't known the answer either.

Jenna switched her gaze at the clock. Time to go. Yeah, to Hell.

She threw her backpack over her shoulders and waited for Serena. The two strutted out of the classroom and towards their lockers, everyone making room for them to walk in the hallway. She opened her locker and tossed her backpack in carelessly. She shut the locker with a huge _slam_.

"Hmm, angry it seems?" Serena questioned.

Jenna gave her a look. "No."

"Then you must be excited for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Serena guessed sarcastically.

"Yeah, an opportunity to die," Jenna replied roughly.

"Yes," Serena agreed, looking her up and down, "You seem ready."

Jenna didn't respond, and instead watched as all of the students raced into the cafeteria, soon leaving only them and Chambers down the hall, having trouble with his locker.

"How'd you hold him up?"

"I got some of the girls to stick their tampons between the crack in his locker and inside so he'd have trouble opening it," Serena answered, smirking brilliantly, "But now I'm going to leave you alone with your new boyfriend."

Serena gave her a mighty push towards Chambers and then turned to go into the cafeteria.

"Ta ta my lovely, and good luck!" And with that, Serena strutted into the cafeteria, taking Jenna's place as ruler of the empire.

Jenna looked at Chambers ahead of her. She looked him up and down, measuring him up. He wore a tattered black t-shirt, faded jeans with holes around the knees, a slick leather jacket and black leather boots. As she swaggered towards him, she thought immediately two things: 1, he looked like he'd be easy to take, in both senses, and 2, he looked like he belonged in a garage fixing cars and getting oil and dirt all over himself. But she pushed these thoughts out of her mind and told herself to think positive thoughts. Yeah, right. Like you could have positive thoughts about the boy who had the worst reputation in all of Castle Rock. But somehow, deep inside, Jenna felt a little bit excited. Sure, she had dated and made out and had sex before, but she had never done any of that with a guy like this. Who knows what he'll be like?

As he struggled opening his locker, Jenna leaned dramatically on the one next to him.

"Hi," she greeted in a low, meant-to-be-sexy voice.

Chris glanced over at her and then he went back to his locker. But with a crease of his eyebrows his eyes shot back up at her and widened. Why was Jenna Malone talking to him? It took awhile for his brain to process the thought. The Queen Bee was speaking to him. Ok, what the hell?

"Hey," Chris responded hesitantly, not trying to be totally rude.

"Uhh….I like your jacket."

What the _hell_! She had never been this awful at making conversation!

What the _hell_! A compliment? No way.

"Thanks," Chris responded awkwardly, "But why are you talking to me?"

"Umm…..I'm sorry everyone laughed at you in class today," Jenna told him for lack of an answer.

"Uh….ok…..thanks. But as you can tell, I can't get my locker open, so I'm kind of busy. So, will you leave?" Chris asked, getting a little annoyed.

Jenna was taken aback. When did anyone tell _her _to leave? That was her job! He's got a lot of nerve…

"I don't really want to," Jenna sniffed, dignified.

"Fine, stay here. Just…don't talk to me. I've had enough of being made fun of today."

"I'm not going to make fun of you," Jenna protested angrily, "I wanted to _talk _to you."

"_Why_? Why talk to me? This has to be some smart-ass joke," Chris added as an afterthought.

"It's not!" Jenna claimed, "I want to talk to you because I feel bad about everything I've done."

Chris finally pulled his locker open, but he stared at the girl at his side. She feels bad about everything she's done? How could she? He highly doubted that she put herself in his position and tried to feel the pain that he felt almost every day. There was no possible way that she could even sympathize with him, and she couldn't have had some sort of an epiphany. This wasn't sympathy she was giving him, it was bullshit!

"Absolute bull Jenna, and you know it," Chris seethed.

"No way!" Jenna lied, frustrated.

But she had to admit, she was kind of impressed with Chambers. Most people would fall at her feet at the _prospect _of talking to her, but when she talked to him, he didn't want any of it. He was standing his ground and trying to make it go his way. He was standing by his own belief system about her. Pretty notable.

"Whatever," Chris replied, rolling his eyes, tired of her little game, "What do you want from me?"

"I want to eat lunch with you," Jenna answered boldly, not caring what he thought.

"Whoa," Chris breathed, "You're really the real deal."

"Um, yeah. I'm serious about this! I want to sit at your table and eat your food and talk your talk and all that shit."

Chris laughed. "This is un-fucking-believable. Why should I let you, pretty pretty princess?

"Because," she explained, reciting the line that Serena told her to say, "My friends dumped me."

God, she was a dumb blonde.

"What?" Chris asked, confused, "How do I know that's true? And why'd they dump you? And besides, you're just apologizing to me so you can have a friend?"

"They dumped me because I wanted to apologize to you first. Well, what's wrong with that? Making up is a great thing for enemies to do. So basically, you're right. I'm apologizing so I can have a new friend. And you'll see my ex-friends' faces when we go into the cafeteria," Jenna answered confidently, "In fact, why don't we go in now?"

Chris looked at her strangely. Ok, so he was going to get his proof. But how did he know this wasn't some trick? Then glumly he thought, _Like a trick is going to ruin my reputation. _And besides, she and her friends (ex-friends?) didn't seem smart enough to pull off a trick that would include him getting in trouble with the faculty and administration. And he remembered one of his new mottos he felt he learned from his favorite book: Take chances, despite risks. Give chances, despite uncertainty. He kind of learned that from his own life so far too.

"Fine," he sighed finally, giving in reluctantly.

She grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear, "I'll sit right next to you."

He shivered involuntarily. Whoa, maybe too much of a chance too soon. He pried her arm off of his.

"Keep dreaming, Princess."

"Spare me, Killer."


	6. Hate, Friends, Love, Hate, Friends, Love

A/N: Yay thanks for the support! And good job to everyone who guessed right! You guys get….A COOKIE!

Jenna strutted through the cafeteria, Chris following reluctantly, looking as though he wanted to disappear. The spoiled, rich, beautiful princess and her ever faithful boy toy trailing behind her. But this was no regular boy toy, the cafeteria marveled, it was Christopher Chambers. Christopher Chambers was the hoodlum of the school whom everyone thought would bring his brother and Ace Merrill's gang around and rob everyone of their money, jewelry, clothes, and then shoot everyone. Then probably celebrate by drinking beer or some really hard drink.

The students in the cafeteria stared with their mouths wide open as the two passed by them. Why was the Queen Bee paling around with Mr. Wrong Side of the Tracks? No one knew the answer. Except for Serena and all of the other popular girls.

Or so Jenna thought. Serena had told her that all of the popular girls knew about the dare and that after two months were up, they'd take her back. And Serena never lied. Pfft, _yeah right_! Who said that Serena _hadn't _told the popular girls about the dare? No one. But she didn't.

So Jenna was a little bit surprised when the popular girls (or should she say her "friends"?) were glaring at her with their pearly white teeth bared. But Jenna shrugged it off: they were probably putting on an act for the rest of the school, plus it was lucky that they were doing that so Chris would believe her.

Chris stared at the popular girls. Their flawless skinned faces were contorted into fury, watching the two of them intently, their eyes showing the greatest sign of hate. Well, Jenna must have told the truth….or they could just be angry about the fact they were crossing the cafeteria together. Or it could be both. Chris scratched his dirty blonde head, puzzled. This felt so weird, and he wanted to go crawl into a hole. But since he couldn't, he decided to hold his head up and wait for the disgusting cafeteria food to be pummeled at him by the jocks.

The students gazed in perplexity, amazement, curiosity, and rage. Rage being the wide-felt emotion. Girls turned in towards each other, whispering and taking glances at the two as they strolled. Boys glowered at Chris for stealing the "boy toy of Jenna" spot. But at least she was still eye-candy.

Jenna daintily seated herself at the cafeteria table while Chris sort of fell clumsily next to her, not paying attention.

Gordie Lachance, Natalie Crandall, and Catherine Spencer were sitting across from them. Gordie stared apprehensively at Jenna and smoothed out his own hair. Natalie shot him an icy look, daring him to try to make himself look better for the Queen. Catherine propped her head on hands and raised her eyebrows judgingly.

Jenna studied them all, her emerald eyes looking critical. Crandall's wild auburn hair, Spencer's unnatural looking dark eyes, Lachance's lanky frame: did Chambers hang around with the Three Stooges? At least Chambers had nice _natural _features….he just screwed his looks up with those funky, dirty clothes. And sometimes she questioned if he took showers. But to win the dare, Jenna had to get in with Chris's group of friends.

"Hi," Jenna greeted perkily.

"Hey…." Gordie trailed off awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" Natalie asked abruptly.

Jenna's eyes slowly switched their gaze to her. She gave Natalie a cold smile.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Crandall? I've actually decided to, ah, 'change the error of my ways'. I shouldn't have been teasing and gossiping about you all, especially…._Chris_, all these years just because you're a little bit different," Jenna explained, smiling over at Chris, "And now it's our last year together, so I think that I should try to pave a new path. Change a little. Broaden my horizons. You know, all that stuff. Plus, my friends dumped me. So I'd like to be friends with all of you."

Gordie gave her a light smile.

Cat leaned over to Natalie and whispered, "Wouldn't count on it, sister."

Natalie smirked. "Like she can count up to anything past the number of fingers on her hands."

Jenna gave them both a penetrating death glare and was about to open her mouth and shut theirs', but Chris stepped in.

"Ok guys, chill, no need to be mean."

"Chris, she's the god damn queen of the school for Christ's sake!" Natalie shouted, "She's treated us all like fucking dirt. Why would you be that damn stupid and believe that load of bullshit that came out of her mouth? You're acting like a babbling jock-idiot…"

"Remember all of those times she ignored you and teased you and got all those jocks to bully you around? How are you going to forget all about them?" Catherine cried.

"Shut up," Chris hissed, surprised at his friends, "I'm not forgetting about them, I'm just trying to be nice. Everyone deserves at least one chance, except I can see if she doesn't want to give you two one."

"Hey, guys…" Gordie interrupted weakly.

Gordie was terrible at this. It was normally Chris's job to break up a fight and make peace. But what was supposed to happen when Chris didn't realize that he was on one side of the fight?

"Chris, it's ok," Jenna told him firmly, seeing that Gordie had struggled, "It's ok if they don't want to be friends with me. I'm sure some people don't. I'll just stick being your friend. Oh, and Gordie's…?"

"Sure," Gordie responded reluctantly.

"What!" Cat cried.

Natalie didn't say anything, but she grabbed Gordie's arm and dug her long, sharp fingernails into his skin.

"OUCH!" Gordie yelped.

"Traitor," Natalie hissed, "_Both_ of you. Let's go Cat."

"Gladly," Cat remarked.

The two pushed their trays across the table, stood up, and began to walk away. But suddenly, Natalie turned around, grabbed Chris's tanned arm and stabbed her fingernails into it. Chris winced.

"I forgot to give you one of those," Natalie told him angrily and withdrew her nails.

Jenna reached over and smacked Natalie's hand. "Hurting people doesn't solve anything."

What was she now, the Queen of Hypocrisy?

"Back off, Blondie," Natalie retorted, "And thanks for stealing my friend."

Jenna widened her eyes mockingly and latched onto Gordie as much as she could from across the table. "You mean Gordie isn't your friend?"

Natalie glared. "Not anymore, he's not."

Gordie's heart sank as Natalie stormed off with Cat at her heels out of the cafeteria. Did he and Chris just make a huge mistake? Would they ever forgive them, or would it just be Chris and him for all of senior year? Well…from the looks of it, him, Chris, and Jenna. Although extremely confused, Gordie was willing to give Jenna a chance. Like Chris said, everyone deserved a chance.

After lunch ended, Gordie parted with Chris and Jenna, leaving them to their awkward space. Chris stared at Jenna. She was so beautiful. Her long, golden hair, her startling, emerald green eyes…….she was gorgeous. Then he mentally smacked himself. What was wrong with him? Sure, she was pretty but….blah. What kind of a personality did she have? A bitchy personality. Although….she seemed really nice to Catherine and Natalie even when they were being mean to her. She kind of tried to make peace….ugh. He was letting one day with this girl go to his head? Yep. He'd already pinched himself five times to make sure this wasn't a dream. It hurt all five times. And Natalie's nails proved it.

"Chris?"

"Yeah?" he asked distractedly, still lost in his thoughts.

"Do you want to go to the Blue Point after school?" she asked boldly, "We could use the time to get to know each other. One on one."

"Jenna, I don't think so," Chris replied uncertainly.

"Oh come on!" she exclaimed, "It'll be fun! We'll just sit around and talk and stuff."

"Sorry," Chris shrugged.

"Why _not_?" Jenna questioned firmly, "Got a hot date?"

Chris smirked. Hmm. A sense of sarcastic humor. "Several. None of which include you."

"You mean I'm not hot?" Jenna asked incredulously.

Chris sighed, "Jenna, relax. I just can't. Do you know what can happen to both of us? This was a big enough risk taker already, and I'll probably get beaten up for it later. And I'm still not sure-"

"About me?" Jenna questioned. This was exactly why she'd ask him to go: so he'd trust her more, and their "relationship" would be more developed. "Here's your chance, Chris. Come with me tonight, and you'll see my real self."

She looked at him pleadingly, her emerald eyes searching his ocean colored ones. "Please?" she whispered.

Chris sighed. She seemed so…sincere. But he was just so uncertain. Did this girl who had hurt him for three years deserve another chance? Then he remembered: when she talked to him in the hallway, no one jumped him. When she led him through the cafeteria, no food was thrown at him. When she talked to him at the table, no tricks were played. She didn't do anything. Nothing happened, and that surprised him. And he was interested, despite how much he hated to admit it. He was interested in what Jenna meant by her "real self". "Here's your chance, Chris", she had said. She was giving him a chance. Take chances and give chances.

"Meet you at 8?"

Jenna smiled widely at him. "I'll see you there."

Chris smirked. "Not if I see you first."

And with that, Chris turned around and left the cafeteria, feeling awkward and silly for using his old trademark line, leaving Jenna feeling triumphant, yet intrigued.

* * *

The boy scoffed as he witnessed Jenna Malone smiling after Chris Chambers. What a dick. What a bitch. He loathed them both so much. Malone for being the Queen Bee snob of the school, strutting around as if she ruled the Earth. More like she ruled _Hell_. He'd seen her taunt other girls until they cried. He'd seen her laugh at other boys until they swiped angrily at their eyes, hiding their tears. He'd seen her become a tease and a piece of eye-candy to every single male in the entire school---the janitor included.

And Chambers? Well….it was hard to explain. Actually, there wasn't really any real reason. He just _hated _him, simple as that.

His eyes glanced over at the popular girls table. But the only person he saw was Serena Austen. Serena. Gorgeous, tall, straight-backed, hazel-eyed, sleek black-haired, big-boobed Serena. Or Sexy Serena, as he loved to call her. And now longed to call her. He was torn in half. One side of him still very much loved Serena, and the other side said "To Hell with that bitch!" But he just wasn't sure. She'd snapped his heart in two, but it was still beating. She had just put him down, not out. So he just followed his angry side. His angry side was just the first to come out. And it was a helluva lot more fun.

Although, he did miss her. The way she'd touch him softly, the way her words rattled off of her luscious lips, the way her personality could change so quickly…..their sexual escapades. He smirked his goofy looking smirk. Snippets of their nights of hungry passion flashed before him, almost making him crave her taste again.

Whoa.

He stopped himself. Slow down, Corporal Duchamp, slow down.


	7. It, Unsure,To Act, To Kill a Mockingbird

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the reviews! Oh, and I just want to let you know that I'm open to constructive criticism and some of your idea…..actually, I'd really like to have it. I want to make this story the best I can make it, so I think I'm going to need your help. Thanks guys! Oh one more thing. To Kill a Mockingbird, a very famous book and movie, will be mentioned and will be a theme throughout the story. You guys don't have to read it to get my story, but I **_highly_** suggest you read it and watch it. Great story, great movie. Right behind Stand By Me in terms of movie, my favorite book.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stand by Me or its characters. Oh, and I definitely do not own To Kill a Mockingbird. The idea of carrying a book around in a pocket actually came from River Phoenix: he used to carry The Basketball Diaries in his jean pocket for awhile because he wanted to play the main character, Jim Carroll.

Chris Chambers let himself in through the back door of Gordie Lachance's towering, wooden, creaky house. He climbed up the carpeted stairs two at a time in a hurry, desperate in need of a talk with his best bud and some nice clothes. He opened the door to Gordie's room without knocking, since he was always welcome, and found Gordie lying on his bed, reading some writing magazine. Chris smirked. Gordie. Always reading, always writing. That's probably what made his best friend so clever and witty.

As Chris made his way over to Gordie, he studied all of the writing awards Gordie had received hanging on the walls. He always liked to do this when he was Gordie's room because he got to feel some sense of pride for him. Was it because there was rarely a time for Chris to feel proud of himself? Possibly.

"Hey man," Gordie greeted, his doe brown eyes shining, "Here for my clothes?"

"Yeah," Chris answered lamely, "Like I'll be able to fit into el feo y flaco chico's clothes."

Gordie sat up slowly, glaring at Chris. "Shit. I miss Natalie already."

Chris gave Gordie a half-hearted smile. Poor Gordie, he always had a problem. But they both knew that someone didn't hand this problem over to him: Gordie brought it to himself.

"Well," Chris started with a sigh, plopping down next to Gordie, "You made a bad mistake back at school, pal. You should have said no to Jenna."

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings…"

"But you hurt Natalie's."

"Yeah," Gordie agreed, frowning, "Because Jenna really means nothing to me at all. But Natalie does. She means so much…she's my best friend besides you. Ah, I'm so stupid."

"No you're not," Chris corrected firmly, "You just made a mistake that will easily be fixed."

"How?"

"After I leave, you are going to go find Natalie and Cat and apologize. They mean more to you than Jenna, like you said."

"Wait a minute," Gordie interrupted, "What about you? They mean more to you than Jenna does. _I_ mean more to you than Jenna."

"Of course," Chris agreed.

"Then how come you're not going to apologize to Catherine and Natalie and going on this date with Jenna?" Gordie asked pointedly.

"It's _not _a date," Chris corrected, "She just wants me to meet up with her and talk. Man, this is so weird. I have no idea why she's doing this…why I'm doing this. Why am I giving her a chance?"

Gordie shrugged. "Don't you think everyone deserves a chance? You said so yourself."

"I do. But what if she tries to hurt us, physically and emotionally?"

"Well," Gordie reasoned, "Look at it this way. What could she do to you that hasn't been done already?"

That was true. Every twisted plot to hurt Chris in any way had already taken place in the last five years. What else could be thrown out at him that he hadn't learned to handle?

He didn't even have a clue.

So, why not go for it? Just tonight….if something was wrong, he'd get up and leave. He knew he _at least _had to show up.

"Ugh, you're right Gordie. A chance is a chance. Plus, I already promised her," Chris agreed.

Gordie smiled. "There you go. You know I'm such a smarty."

Chris gave Gordie a slap on the back. "Thanks man."

* * *

"You should definitely dress down for Chambers. He'll dig the whole 'I'm a dirty yet naughty little girl' look," Serena advised.

Serena was lying on Jenna's pink, almost heart-shaped bed, twirling a strand of her long, straight black hair around her finger. Jenna marched out of her adjoining bathroom, complete with a bath Jacuzzi, in faded blue jeans, a long-sleeved black t-shirt knitted from alpaca wool, and tall 2-inch dark high heels. With her silky blonde hair in an obnoxiously high ponytail, mascara-ed deep blue eyes, and fire engine red lipstick-ed lips, she looked more than ready to snag any boy and fight any girl who got in her way.

"Perfect," Serena remarked with a smile, standing up and strutting to her friend, "Now. Here's a test. You are definitely planning on having sex or at least fooling around to an extent, right?"

"Of course," Jenna snapped, like Serena was thick, "He'll really fall in love with me if we do it. He'll see why all the boys want me."

"Right," Serena said mechanically, "Anyways, you have to make sure he has a big….you know."

"What?"

"He must have a big…."

"Infatuation with me? Already does."

"A big COCK, damnit," Serena seethed, aggravated with Jenna's 'I'm a dumb blonde!' games, "You have to make sure the slime ball has a big cock."

"And how do I do that when I'm in a _restaurant filled with other people_?" Jenna questioned.

"Ugh, do I have to tell you everything?" Serena asked, fed up, "Okay, here's what you do. You pretend to drop something, a fork, an earring, whatever. It lands under the table you're sitting at. So, you dive down there and grab the thing. But pretend to have some trouble looking for it. And do your best to investigate. It won't be easy. His jeans will be covering it up pretty well."

Jenna shook her blonde head at Serena. "Nah uh, no way Sere, no way."

"Ah, come _on_!" Serena persuaded, "Live for the moment! And I'll be asking for a full report when you get back."

"What are you going to do on my night out with Chambers anyway?"

Serena began to study herself in a mirror hanging up on one of Jenna's deep red walls. "Hmm….I think I might see if I can get in touch with that babe from Canada."

"Canada man? I thought he sucked in bed?" Jenna asked, her eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"I said that?" Serena questioned, furrowing her thin, perfectly place eyebrows, "Wow, he was actually a bomb in bed. A regular love bomb, I'm telling you. He was great."

* * *

Chris' lips curled into a ghost of a smile as he saw Jenna entering the Blue Point, looking very dressed down for the occasion. This was what made him smile. It was almost as if she was trying to make herself fit in with him and not look superior with all of her stylish clothes. He had actually dressed much fancier than he normally did, with Gordie's insistence.

Jenna strutted to the tall red booth Chris had saved in the crowded restaurant and sat down gingerly. She gave him a small, shy smile.

"Hi Chris," she greeted, "You look really nice."

And she wasn't just saying that. He honestly looked very nice. He was wearing a button up, light sky blue shirt with a white undershirt underneath. Khaki pants (that suspiciously looked very tight and small on him) covered his legs. His hair was neatly combed and for the first time Jenna took notice to how good his grown-out dirty blonde hair looked.

"Thanks….so do you."

Pfft. What an understatement.

"Thank you."

An uncomfortable silence took over for awhile. Jenna was staring off into space while Chris was drumming his fingers along the plain, metal table. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"So, how's your senior year so far?" Jenna asked awkwardly.

"My first two days? They were alright, I guess," Chris answered just as awkwardly.

"Not as much bullying, I noticed," Jenna prodded, trying to get him to open up to her a little bit more.

Chris smiled sadly. "Yeah, but it's only the first two days. Don't you worry, since it's the last year for anyone to do anything, there's going to be some crazy shit. I'm kinda surprised _you _suddenly changed your mind."

Kind of? Sure.

Jenna frowned and apologized, "I'm really sorry for what everyone's been doing to you….and I'm sorry for what I've done."

"Whatever," Chris dismissed, annoyed.

He was sick of the apologies. If she wanted to really get on his good side, she was going to have to actually make good conversation and stop saying sorry. Sometimes sorry just didn't cut it, and he knew that.

"Hey," Jenna said, an idea popping into her head and in desperate need of changing the subject, "Speaking of last year, where're you thinking about going to college?"

"I'm not too sure," Chris mused quietly.

He honestly hadn't given the topic much thought. Just as long as he went to a college with an excellent law school, he was fine with anything.

"Really? You're going to have to apply soon," Jenna warned.

"Yeah, so what Princess? Where do _you_ want to go?"

Without missing a beat, Jenna replied, "Columbia."

Chris raised his eyebrows. Wow. This girl was serious. He was kind of intrigued about this, actually. She knew what she wanted, and she was going to get it. This was putting her ambition to good use.

"That's a huge acting school, isn't it?" Chris asked tentatively, "You wanna be an actress?"

"Oh yes, more than anything," Jenna responded, smiling and nodding her head fervently. It was obvious she enjoyed talking about acting. "It has a lot of other stuff to, like a really good law school. But honestly, I just want to act. I've been wanting to as long as I can remember."

Jenna wanted to stop herself from spilling her feelings about acting to Chris, but he seemed interested. Well, semi-interested. And no one ever was interested to hear about her wanting to act anyway. They were all too interested in her looks and her thoughts about the students of the school. She suddenly came to a huge realization: that was all she ever did with her friends. Talk about hot guys and gossip. It really hit her hard. She knew she was more intelligent than that, and here was her chance to show it, and to let Chris really trust her. Not that she didn't know that she was more intelligent than Chris was anyway.

"There are so many people in the acting business I admire. I know this is cliché, but James Dean is just so boss," Jenna answered, diving right into a conversation, "He only did three movies, but he was just oozing with potential. It's really a shame that he died so early. He was only twenty-four, isn't that a waste of talent? A total waste. Who knows what could have happened if he hadn't gotten into his car that day-"

"Whoa, you really have some strong feelings for Mr. Dean," Chris remarked teasingly, "Yeah, he's very cool. Even though he's dead, he's very boss."

"Definitely," Jenna agreed, "Oh, and Judy Garland is my favorite actress. Kind of underrated in my opinion. She's hilarious, so I've read in magazines."

Chris smiled at her. He was enjoying her enjoying this. He knew he was getting a little out of hand….he was beginning to trust her a little more. But there was nothing wrong with having a conversation….he supposed. Well, his excuse could be that he was just humoring her. But deep down, he was enjoying this.

"She really seems awesome. She hasn't done anything in the past year or so, that sucks. I love her in A Star is Born."

"Me too!" Jenna exclaimed excitedly, "But of course, you have to love her in The Wizard of Oz. Whenever I hear her sing 'Over the Rainbow', I get chills down my spine. I even get tears in my eyes."

"Wow, I can't imagine you crying, Jenna," Chris remarked critically.

"Well, imagine it, Chris. Everyone cries," Jenna drawled knowingly, spinning her Diet Coke around with her straw, "I'm sure _you _even cry."

Chris was taken aback. Yeah, he cried. A lot, actually. But her tone sounded so icy in that moment.

"Yeah, I do," Chris snapped defensively.

"Ah well."

Jenna had no idea what to tell him. She couldn't imagine _him _crying. He seemed too butch and tough and rough to cry. Suddenly, she remembered: she had to dive under the table. Now would be a perfect time since he hadn't responded. She pretended to fiddle with her silver chain bracelet with a small heart attached to it, while she was actually taking it off. When Chris looked away for a brief second, she threw it on the black and white tiled floor.

"Whoops, dropped my bracelet. Be right back," Jenna told him.

Chris studied her critically. This would be interesting.

She carefully lowered herself under the wide table and onto the dirty, sticky floor. She began to crawl around, but more up towards Chris, dodging around the stand that kept the table up. Lucky enough, her bracelet was right by Chris's left foot. She went for it and looked up, hitting her head on the table.

"What the hell are you doing down there?"

"I'm fine," Jenna called.

She began to study Chris's lower half. Pretty nicely shaped legs, from what she could see from the way his (but it didn't even look his size?) pants wrapped around them. He still wore those boots. Ugh, so tacky. Go back to Texas, cowboy. Her dark blue eyes traveled to the spot. Holy land, as she liked to call it. Although he had pants on….they were tight since they were so small (she'd thank whoever let him borrow them later). Whoa, was her first reaction. Wow. Damn. She smirked to herself and knew that it was time to come back up—but something caught her eye: there was something rectangular bulging out of his pocket. She backed away from him and rose slowly and went back to her seat.

She waved her bracelet in front of Chris's face. "Found it!"

"Obviously," Chris remarked sarcastically.

"Hey, I couldn't help but noticing….there's something in your pocket. What is it?"

Chris cocked his head to the side in thought, but then his features brightened. He suddenly became really excited. He loved it when people took notice to the bulge in his pocket. He dove into his pocket and pulled out a tattered book. The cover was a light, soft purple. Framed on the cover was a tree, with a watch and other items in the hole in it. A black bird was flying away from the tree. The title said in capital, bold letters: **_To Kill a Mockingbird_**.

"A book, Chris?" Jenna asked, snickering, "You _read_?"

"Of course I read. Do you and your friends actually think that I couldn't read?" Chris questioned, humor and hurt evident in his tone.

"No," Jenna lied, "But what book is that?"

"_To Kill a Mockingbird_. Gordie gave it to me. And it is so good. No, not good. _Great_. Best thing I've ever read," Chris told her.

"What's it about?" Jenna asked curiously, eyeing the book critically.

Sometimes Jenna liked to read, but only books she was forced to. Oh, and magazines.

This was one thing Chris was willing to discuss with _anyone_.

"Well, it's about a lawyer named Atticus Finch in the early 30's. I think the year is 1932. Anyway, Atticus Finch is asked and steps up to the challenge of defending a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. See, Atticus is a really principled man, so he does it. Since the book is set in Maycomb, Alabama, the whole town disagrees with Atticus and thinks that the black man should go to jail, but it's totally obvious he didn't rape the white woman. Also, Atticus is the father of two children: Scout, who's a real tomboyish girl, and Jem, the coming-of-age son. Scout and Jem become deeply affected by having such an honorable father and learn many things throughout the book. They are also investigating about this guy who is locked up in a house in their neighborhood, Boo Radley. He's supposed to be this man who eats squirrels and cats. But, anyway, the book is fantastic. Really it's about 'the mockingbird'," Chris explained eagerly, forgetting who he was exactly talking to.

"The mockingbird? What's so special about the mockingbird?"

"The mockingbird represents the people in the book who don't do anything wrong. Like, hmm," Chris started to elaborate with difficulty, "I can't really explain. You should read the book. It's my favorite. You'd love it."

Chris pushed the book towards her. He wanted to see if she read anything besides those dirty, trashy gossip magazines. And he wanted to see if she could dissect the themes and importance of the book. Even though it was "just a book", it had always put Chris at ease. It made him feel more comfortable. It made him feel like he was _someone_.

"Ew," Jenna responded, pushing the book back towards him.

"No?" Chris asked in mock shock.

"No."

"I bet you're not taking it because you can't read it. You're scared," Chris retorted smartly.

"I am not scared of a book!" Jenna cried angrily.

"You just don't want to admit that you can't read something that a Chambers read."

"Not true."

"Very true."

"Not true."

"Very true."

"Very true."

"Very true."

"DAMN give me the book!" Jenna exclaimed, frustrated that her reverse-psychology had no affect on Chris.

"The main character, Atticus Finch? He's one of my main reasons that I want to become a lawyer," Chris confessed before he had any idea what had come out of his mouth.

Jenna eyed him strangely. "You want to be a lawyer?"

This surprised her a great deal. She had always thought that he would want to grow up and become an alcoholic. You know, take up the family business. But she was in no way expecting him to say that he wanted to be a lawyer. It kind of showed her how high his goals were set and how determined he seemed to reach them.

She was pretty sure that she was going to hate the book, but who said she was going to read it? She snatched it off the table and shoved it in her purse.

"Hey, it's kind of late," Chris informed her, looking at clock on the wall, anxious to tell Gordie about their evening, "What time do you have to be back?"

"Anytime," Jenna shrugged, "You can't walk me home though-"

"Like I'd want to."

"-because the boys in our neighborhood would jump you," Jenna finished, putting on a hurt look.

"Sorry," Chris apologized with a shrug, a little surprised about how caring that one statement had seemed, "I guess I'll see you later then."

"Definitely," Jenna nodded, standing up, "Look my number up."

Chris eyed her, shocked.

Then, Jenna walked out of the diner and towards The View without another word. The town was quiet and sleepy, even though it was a Friday. It was a cool night, and Jenna enjoyed the peacefulness, walking alone and letting the gentle breeze flow past her. She help up the book Chris had given her. _To Kill a Mockingbird_. Hmm. Interesting. Maybe she would give it a read. It'd probably end up being a book she was forced to read anyway. But she was surprised. She enjoyed her time with Chris……..was something wrong with her? He made her feel a lot more relaxed, like she could talk about anything instead of gossip and men. She could actually breathe around him. She mentally slapped herself. She must be sick.


	8. Teddy Advice, Beggers and Choosers,Sorry

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the reviews and the support and the suggestions (more suggestions—especially on Chris, are absolutely welcome)! Haha I've been so uptight about this story…. and I think this chapter is going to be a little pervy (Teddy mainly) and possibly really bad. I GREATLY apologize if anyone is out of character. Warning for all you Teddy lovers….I make him out to be kind of bad, I think. Thanks so much!

Teddy Duchamp wandered slowly and aimlessly down the concrete sidewalk. He inhaled deeply through his nose, almost as if cocaine, his personal favorite drug, was in front of him. He could smell the dampness in the quiet September air, and could feel a cool, gentle breeze ruffle his light caramel colored hair. He ran one dirty finger-nailed hand through his hair. He loved his hair; it was probably his best physical feature out of many. It was a brilliant Beatle haircut. Ah, he wished he could be a Beatle….he wanted to be John Lennon. Or a soldier. Suddenly, Teddy smiled smugly as a fantasy came into play.

He could see himself, a soldier in Vietnam, fighting for the American way, bringing justice to the opposing side, and helping fellow soldiers in duty and out. Oh, and shooting the hell out of all those Vietnamese people. He could almost feel the gun in his right hand, shaking and moving viciously as he tried to kill every dirty rotten bastard that came his way, when in reality, his hand was just twitching. And then, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr would be so impressed with his hand work that they would ask him to be part of the band and play the guitar. Oh, and they'd kick John out, not because Teddy didn't like John, John was his favorite, but because Teddy was going to be the _next_ John Lennon. Then he'd be the leader of the greatest rock'n roll band ever and commander of all the marine, navy, air force, and land corps of America.

Wouldn't that be a huge accomplishment? And besides, there's no way that anybody else could have that high of status in the world. He'd be famous! He'd-

_SLAM!_

Just as he was turning the corner, he ran smack dab into someone. This person was more muscular, sending Teddy to the ground on his ass, his glasses falling off in the process.

"Shit," Teddy swore, rubbing his butt, "Watch where you're going, asshole, or I'll fucking shoot you when I'm commander of every single military unit of America."

"Damn, Teddy," an amused voice chuckled, "A little trippy today, huh? Ah, no wonder why you fell, you're a little too _trippy_!"

Hahaha. What a comedian.

"Chambers?" Teddy asked, gruffness in his voice.

"Yeah, man," Chris identified himself, helping Teddy off the ground.

"What have you been doing tonight, going on a date with—FUCK I need my glasses!" Teddy exclaimed, exasperated and furious.

Chris chuckled softly. "Alright, alright, calm down." Chris stooped to the ground, picked up Teddy's coke bottle glasses, and handed them over to him. Teddy put them on without a word of thanks.

"As I was saying," he continued, "Did you go on a date with _Lachance_? Ehehehehee!"

"No, he's not my type," Chris answered, "I went to the Blue Point with Jenna Malone. It wasn't a date—"

"_Jenna Malone_, Chambers? Jenna TheFuckingBitchoftheSchool Malone?" Teddy questioned incredulously.

It really surprised him. Why would a fashionable slut like her go on a date, or at least meet up with, a guy like Chambers? Something smelled shitty, and it had the popular girls' evil but sexy, well manicured hands all over it. Despite how much Teddy didn't like him, he decided to help Chambers out. He was better than Malone, and he always saw how everyone treated him: like he was an animal. Malone was going to walk all over his ass. And he saw it as helping out a fellow soldier, a guy like him, and he wouldn't get killed in the line of duty.

"Man, do you like her? At all?"

"She's alright, I guess," Chris answered with a shrug.

It was true. Based from that meeting, Jenna was ok. She hadn't done anything wrong, and she was being nice and forward. Chris was just….unsure. But the thing was: he wanted to trust her. So far, she had proven to be a real pleasure, and Chris wanted to trust her.

"Chambers, did you ever think that she could be _faking _it?" Teddy asked, like Chris was an idiot.

"Why would I think that? Teddy, there's a thing called trust."

"You'd trust a bitch like her?" Teddy asked skeptically, "Damn, I always knew you weren't that smart."

"I think that all people deserve chances," Chris said, ignoring Teddy's comment, "Or at least one."

"What made you think up some bullshit crap like that?"

"I never _got _any chances," Chris explained heatedly, a little angry with Teddy and angry about the process of coming up with his theory, "No one ever gave me a chance to show them how I really am, how I'm not some dumb, cheap hood who'll steal girls' jewelry and murder their boyfriends. So I learned that if someone else was in need of a chance, I'd give it to them, because I've been in that position before and know what it feels like when you don't get one." He had no idea why he was explaining this to a guy he hadn't talked to since the end of freshman year. But for some reason, it felt really good to just tell _Teddy _this. "You have to put yourself in other peoples' positions. 'You never really know a person until you step inside their skin and walk around in it.'" Chris preached, quoting one of his favorite lines in _To Kill a Mockingbird_. Suddenly he realized that he hadn't been doing this with Jenna himself and that he needed to.

Teddy stared at him.

"You're on crack," Teddy claimed, shaking his head.

"Well actually, we know the truth about which one of us is _really _on crack," Chris teased.

"Yeah, yeah," Teddy dismissed, even though Chris was right, "Anyway, yeah that makes sense to you I guess. But man. Why do you like her? I have to tell you, she's probably bullshitting you. And you don't want to take a chance on _that_, now do ya?"

"I guess," Chris admitted, knowing that Teddy could be correct. And words, although cherished in his and Gordie's opinion, were one thing. But an action was another. Words could be taken back or be twisted with lies. But an action: there was no taking an action back. What was done would be done. He shared this notion with Teddy. "You think I should get her to prove it by doing something?"

"Yeah," Teddy agreed, "I mean, even though she ate lunch with you, talked to you, and met you at the Blue Point, that's not enough. She's got to….gotta do something pretty fucking drastic, really."

"Oh. Well, I'll see what I can do."

A minute of awkward silence came. They both thought that there would never come a day when there was a silence between them, at least, with how they both used to love to talk to each other, because they were the ones who came up with the cleverest insults to throw out at each other in the treehouse. They were the ones who'd get into an endless string of pitiless arguments, Chris always making peace. They were the ones who'd exchange stories of abuse from their father, the one thing they both could relate to besides their age. But now….now there was a silence. And they could do nothing about it. Of course, they could say something, but it wouldn't change how they felt about each other as friends now.

"Thanks for the help, Teddy," Chris said uncomfortably, "I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah," Teddy replied, sounding almost bored, "Be careful of that bitch. She's struck me as the high strong skank type."

"Hey, by the way," Chris started, "Why are you helping me out with a popular girl?"

"Because," Teddy answered hesitantly, a ghost of a smile on his face, "I was with one."

Chris gave him a look of astonishment, and he found himself too dumbfounded to respond. Even though this _was _Teddy Duchamp, maybe he should take his advice despite how bad of an advice giver he was. Teddy had had experience with someone who had a reputation very similar to Jenna's. He had dealt with someone who was at least somewhat like her, so he must have experience. Who else could he talk to who did, and what did Chris have to lose anyway?

"Who was she?"

Teddy blinked. "Bye, bastard."

"Bye, Teddy."

* * *

Teddy sighed as he continued to saunter down the sidewalk. That was interesting. Chris was an interesting character. Like, he still hung out with Lachance. That was weird. Why would you hang out with someone you hung out with when you were twelve? Although good times, Teddy knew that a time had to come when new friends had to come into your life. People who were more exciting. Like his crazy-assed best friend, Anthony Trent, the friend who helped him with all the grungy juniors who had been kissing their asses since the 5th grade. And Hudson Scott, who supplied him his cocaine. Ah, Teddy loved his cocaine. Since the middle of August, he needed it after slipping into a bit of a depression.

A bit of a depression? Sure, Teddy.

It made him feel like he was on top of the world. Literally. Such nice things happened in his mind when he took it. But after was a drag, but then he'd just inhale some more. It was a huge endless cycle, and honestly, he was a bit sick of it. He wanted a change, even though it had only been around a month and a half since he got on it. The middle of August. August was now Teddy's least favorite month. June was his favorite. Ugh.

Suddenly, he was being tugged earnestly by his left arm, and before he knew it, someone had pulled him that way and pushed him up against the wall of the towering, brick building. He began to struggle, and someone breathed loudly. He stopped his struggling. Even by the breathing, he knew who it was. He had heard her breathe loudly so many times during the summer.

"Teddy," Serena Austen sighed deeply, "How are you?"

"Not very well, thanks to you, you dirty fucking skank," Teddy snapped.

It was so dark, Teddy couldn't see her, but he felt her. She was practically on top of him.

"Kiss me," Serena commanded, gripping his shoulders with her blood red fingernails. Teddy always knew that was the color she always painted her nails.

"What!" Teddy exclaimed, furious and shocked beyond belief, "Why the hell should I? You've treated me like the fucking ground and the fucking people you strut your pretty little ass over, you bitch!"

"I heard a compliment in there somewhere," Serena told him flirtatiously, totally ignoring the rest of his exclamation, "I have a pretty little ass, huh? They say that I have the best ass in all of Castle Rock. Is it true?"

Serena backed up and did a little bit of a twirl, as if Teddy had never seen her butt before.

Teddy stared, his huge trap open, mouthing "what?" Even though he had seen her butt before, he was still completely turned on by the sight of it. Yes, yes, she was a bitch who had broken what heart he had left when he met her, but she was still sexy. And despite how much he despised her…..he couldn't resist her.

"You're staring," Serena told him all-knowingly.

"Oh no….you _do _have a nice—"

He cut himself off when she had made her way back and was beginning to stick her right leg in between his legs. Hmm. Kinky. He couldn't wait any longer. She wanted a kiss, she got a kiss.

Teddy pulled her upper body closer towards him and hungrily kissed her. Serena tossed her sleek black hair in front so he could run his hands through it, one thing that she loved that he did. Their kissing became more heated, just like it always had, but thanks to it, Teddy knew exactly when to stop. He pushed her off of him, sending her backwards a little. She looked up at him with hurt in her hazel eyes.

"Teddy—"

"Fuck off, bitch," he hissed, making a quick escape out of the alleyway she had pulled him into.

But as he stormed off down the sidewalk, he knew he wouldn't have to have any cocaine for at least a week because of that kiss.

* * *

Gordie knocked on the creaky, wooden door of Catherine's house. He knew that if the two weren't out eating, they'd be here, since Natalie hated going home and her parents were glad for her to be out. She basically slept over at Cat's house and Gordie's house every night, not Chris' though, for obvious reasons.

Mrs. Spencer came out, wearing an apron and cooking mitts. Of course. They could be at Cat's house _and _eat.

"Gordie!" Mrs. Spencer exclaimed happily. She had always loved Gordie.

"Hello," he greeted cheerfully, "May I see Natalie and Catherine?"

"Of course! You know where their room is."

"Thank you."

Gordie stepped into the house and started trudging down the hallway, hands in his jean pockets. What was he supposed to say to them? Sorry, I was distracted by a girl I barely knew who's a bitch and forgot about your feelings? Nah. That didn't work. I was following Chris' lead? His hands shook nervously in his pockets, and he almost scolded himself. Why was he nervous? These were two of his best friends. Well. One best friend. One…what _was _Natalie anyway? He really did like her, but just had the hunch that she didn't like him like that, especially not now. Best girlfriend? No. That suggested things that Gordie wouldn't even dream of doing.

He knocked on Cat's door politely.

"Come in," Cat said absentmindedly, thinking it was her mother.

Gordie entered shyly. "Hi."

Both girls looked up from the magazines, yearbooks, and black sharpies strewn across Catherine's flower print queen bed. Cat gave Gordie a ghost of a smile, but Natalie looked furious.

"Could you leave please?" Natalie asked, annoyed, pulling the cap off of a sharpie, "I was just getting ready to draw a cheesy French mustache on you."

"I will," Gordie promised, "I just need to apologize."

"So you _are_ going to apologize," Cat said, but Gordie could tell she was only teasing him, "What about Chris?"

"Chris says he's sorry. We both wanted to say that you two mean so much to us, and we love you guys. I honestly just wasn't thinking about what I was doing and going along with Chris. I'm going to be nice to Jenna, but I don't have to be her best friend or anything," Gordie explained.

"Apology accepted," Cat told him happily.

They both looked at Natalie, who looked busy drawing a mustache on Gordie. Great, she still hates him. Catherine nudged her hard in the ribs.

"OW! Ugh…god Cat, you stupid cat," Natalie exclaimed, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I accept your apology."

Gordie's heart leapt. "YAY!" he shouted, ran, jumped on the bed, and hugged Natalie tightly.

"Aw, you skinny, ugly, teddy bear, you!" Natalie said sweetly, hugging him back.

"Hey wait. If you weren't drawing a mustache on Gordie, who were drawing it on?"

Natalie smirked. "Vern Tessio."

Gordie and Natalie laughed, but Catherine didn't.


	9. Mistreatment, the Drug Dealer, TOES!

**A/N: AHHHH APOLOGIES ALL AROUND! Sorry! I'm having a bout of writer's block and I've been away at camp….sorry if this chapter sucks! But I did kind of get some inspiration: just watched Pretty in Pink AND Stand by Me. Hoped it helped! This chapter goes out to EVERYONE! Especially Disko Rhapsody haha. **

Jenna Malone strutted into the school hallways, just as usual. But what was usually usual was now unusual. It was like some new, undiscovered creature had sauntered into the hallways instead of her. Yes, mostly everyone paid attention to her when she came into school: but not the way they were doing it right now.

As she marched through the halls, everyone gave her looks of loathing and absolute hatred. People didn't bother to step out of her way this time or gladly make room for her to parade around the school. Guys and girls bumped into her roughly without apology. One guy even sent her to the floor, her books spewing out of her hands. He walked straight past her, and everyone pretended not to notice her on the floor. They pretended she was invisible. She picked herself up. As she hugged her books to her chest, her swagger became a meek walk.

Jenna wanted to scream. She wasn't used to this type of treatment. She had hung out with Chris for only one day, and she was immediately dumped. Thrown in the trash. History. No one wanted to be around her anymore, she could obviously sense that. This was not fair. She hadn't done _a thing_ to _anyone_, and people were treating her like dirt. That's not…..that sounded vaguely familiar. But, oh well, that didn't matter. What did matter was that this was not fair!

* * *

"What are you day-dreaming about this time, Nats?" Catherine asked in mock annoyance, snapping her fingers in front of her friend's face.

"Hmm? Wha?" Natalie asked, coming to attention.

Cat and Gordie smirked at each other. Natalie had always been doing that ever since Gordie had known her. She would space out and zone out all the time, lost in her own thoughts. But this time, she wasn't spacing out.

"Hey Cat….have you ever noticed how _handsome _Hudson Scott is?" Natalie questioned, propping her head on her hands.

Catherine gave her a confused look. "Who? Hudson Scott? Who the hell is that?"

Gordie racked his brain for the name. Hudson Scott….who'd have a name like Hudson, anyway? Wait was it….nah, it wasn't one of his psycho relatives. Hudson Scott….Hudson Scott! Gordie put the name to the face. And then he faltered dramatically. He was friends with Teddy Duchamp and…..wait, Natalie thought he was handsome?

"I know who you're talking about," Gordie responded thickly.

"Do you know him personally?" Natalie immediately asked, jumping with excitement.

"No, I know his friend though, Teddy Duchamp," he answered, trying to persuade her, "I heard they both dabble in drugs quite a bit, so I really don't think-"

"OH MY GOD!" Natalie squealed, "INTRODUCE ME, INTRODUCE ME, INTRODUCE ME!"

"Nats, I said that-"

"I SAID INTRODUCE ME, NOT 'GIVE ME AN EXPLANATION'….ME. COME ON SKINNY DEER BOY, INTRODUCE ME!" Natalie begged.

"Jesus Christ, with your voice you might have just introduced yourself to the whole cafeteria," Cat remarked, amused, "Anyway, which one is he?"

"Him, over there," Natalie pointed out, gesturing wildly to a gloomy looking guy with flowing black hair which masked his deathly pale face like a cape.

"Ew," Cat said simply, "His face is like an….old milkish color."

"Nuh uh," Nats protested, "He looks like one of those guys who writes poetry and stories-"

"He looks like a drug dealer," Gordie corrected bitterly, "Or a drug dealer and vampire's son."

Natalie stared at him, her light green eyes narrowed. "You look like a deer."

"Is that a bad thing?" Gordie asked her, his eyes looking at her with pleading.

_Please say no, please say no, please say no_!

"In your case, it's really bad thing."

_Fuck_.

"Natalie, you can't just get mad at me because I think the guy you-"

He couldn't finish. He couldn't bear to finish that statement. Natalie didn't actually _like _this guy….did she? No, she didn't even know him!

"Why not?" she questioned sarcastically, "Look, Gordie, I'm glad you're trying to be my big brother, but I seriously don't need one."

And with that, she stomped away angrily, but not without glancing over at Hudson Scott. He gave her a small, Cheshire cat grin. She smirked back at him and winked. Gordie caught the exchange.

_I'm not trying to be your big brother. I'm trying to be your_—

"That was strange," Catherine remarked, "I never thought she'd take an interest in one of Duchamp's goons."

"More like Teddy Duchamp's the goon—"

"Hey, Gordo, I'll be back later, there's something I've got to take care of," Cat told him, suddenly distracted.

Without picking up her tray, she promptly left, leaving Gordie alone, in despair, wondering what would become of Natalie, and…..and: where the hell was Chris?

* * *

Chris gave a frustrated huff. What was with his goddamn locker lately? He was already ten minutes late for lunch. He gave the handle a sharp pull and it was like a tidal wave…a tidal wave of womanly products. Tampons and pads came pouring out of his now-opened locker. Despite how annoying it was, Chris couldn't help but snicker. Even though he was five years older than he was when he was twelve, he was still a little immature when it came to those things. Thanks to Teddy and Vern's mind-poisoning, of course. And besides, what girl in their right mind would keep sticking tampons and pads in his locker?

Exactly. These girls _weren't _in their right minds. It suddenly hit him: it was a prank. He sighed. The first of many, no doubt. This was going to be Hell. Just because the richest and most popular girl in school suddenly wanted to be around him, he was going to get his ass whipped. Why didn't he see this coming? There was going to be more mistreatment than usual. He shouldn't have told Jenna she could eat lunch with him. He shouldn't have met her at the Blue Point. He shouldn't have let her thing that they would be friends….that they would have something….in terms of friendship, of course—

_WHAM! _

Chris had no idea what just happened. Before he knew it, he was being held up against the locker next to his by the collar of his black shirt by a huge, muscled guy who reminded him of a caveman. He opened his eyes. Ah, he should have known: the football jocks. All the ones who were in love with Jenna. So basically, the whole team was there….except he noticed Vern was missing. His thoughts about the team were interrupted when he felt his head being slammed into the locker again.

"You dirty little lowlife faggot," the guy holding onto him spat.

"What the fuck are you playing at, you piece of shit?" the person next to him asked menacingly.

"Look, guys," Chris tried to reason, "I'm not playing at anything. It's just that Jenna—"

"You don't have the right to say her name," a guy from the crowd seethed.

"Nice tampons, by the way!" another guy teased.

"Can't we just talk—?"

"_No way_," the main boy responded, "We don't talk to guys like you, Chambers!"

"But if we just talk, things might seem—"

_POW! _

A fist collided with Chris' jaw, shutting him up successfully. Another one came up and popped him in his right eye.

"STOP IT!" a female voice shouted.

Everyone froze in place and turned to look at the owner of the voice. Chris weakly moved his head in the direction the tone came from. He was in complete and total shock. Storming towards them was none other than Jenna Malone. Her fists and jaw were clenched tightly, her emerald eyes wide and livid. All of the guys stared at her. Chris did so too.

"Put him down," she ordered the moment she reached them, "Leave him alone."

"But…but…" one guy trailed off.

They weren't really sure how to act in this situation. Sure, the girls could be bitches to each other, and the guys could be bastards to each other….but did it work with the opposite sex, especially when she used to be the most popular person in the school? But wasn't that why they now hated her in the first place, because she wasn't? Yeah, and she was hanging around with this lowlife shit. That's why they were beating him up in the first place.

Jenna and Chris both hoped that the college football teams weren't this thick.

"Buts don't mean a thing in this situation," Jenna told them, "Now do what I said: leave the boy alone."

"Why should we listen to you now?" one guy asked, his voice dripping with mocking.

"You're just as bad as he is," another chimed in, gesturing towards Chris.

"Shut up," Jenna commanded, seething, "I'll go blab to the Principal."

Immediately, the main guy dropped Chris roughly and signaled the rest of the team to leave. Sure, Jenna wasn't the top dog anymore. But the Principal would still listen to her because she was a Richie and her dad was mayor of the town, even though it was Chris Chambers they were beating up on anyway. They'd be kicked off the team and definitely not guaranteed their football scholarships.

The team trudged off. The moment they were out of sight, Jenna bent down by Chris, who was slumped against his locker.

"You ok?" she asked him.

He looked up at her with complete surprise in his ocean-colored hues. She….she defended him. She defended him, and she got him to only suffer minor damages. This was insane, and a total shocker. She risked getting bullied (with words of course) to 'save' him. She stepped out of the crowd, and she helped him. _Jenna Malone _gave _Christopher Chambers _a helping hand. It was only a day, and she already greatly risked her reputation. Actually, probably after that, her reputation would be permanently lost. Shit spreads fast. But it didn't matter: she stood up to the normal crowd, the favored, popular, most important crowd in the social status of the school, for _him_.

"Why?" Chris questioned immediately, "Why'd you do that, _why_?"

Jenna stared at him, her emerald eyes softening. Honestly, she had no idea why she did it. In a way, it kind of pained her to see him this shocked that she would do something nice. Jenna wasn't awful to anyone she liked. Why should she be? It's just…there was no one out there that she liked, that she cared for. But wait…that meant that she must like Chris. No, no, she didn't like him….did she? She was unsure. He was wonderful last night. He was sweet, and he put up with her. He had learned to be a little tolerant and patient. Ah, like in _To Kill a Mockingbird_: Atticus Finch, the main character, was very patient with everyone in town. He let everyone say their piece and listened with respect. Even with his children. And most people wouldn't listen to children, Jenna had realized last night while she was reading the book. Most people wouldn't listen to them, because they 'didn't know anything' and weren't important. But Atticus listened to both of his son Jem and his daughter Scout. He gave them chances and trusted them.

Wasn't someone saying something about chances yesterday?

For lack of a really good explanation, Jenna answered, "I thought you could use a hand."

Chris gave her a small smile. He could tell that she was anxious and kind of unsure, just as he was. But he wasn't as uncertain anymore. Knowing that she would do something like that gave him much hope that she would fully turn around and be the type of person he'd like to see living in Castle Rock.

* * *

Catherine wringed her hands nervously. Ok, she was going to do it this time. She was going to have a successful conversation with Vern Tessio. He was sitting at his lunch table, wolfing down a sandwich and gulping down an energy drink. God, even when he was being a full blown pig he was a gorgeous hunk. She took a deep breath and approached his table. He looked up, feeling a presence, and he immediately smiled a bright, dazzling smile.

"Catherine, hey!" he greeted enthusiastically, "Here, sit down, sit down!"

Cat's dark brown eyes widened with surprise, but she did so. No one would really care about Vern and Cat sitting together, or even hooking up, if it came to that. Vern was just another football jock. There were too many to keep track of. And Cat, well….no one knew who Cat was. She didn't _have _a reputation. But still—Thank God he was alone. Wait a minute….

"Hey Vern," Cat started in a quiet voice, "Where's all of your friends?"

Vern shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich. "Thew toes?"

Cat giggled. "Hahaha, you said 'thew toes.'"

Vern smiled. "What's wrong with toes? I like toes. They come in handy. Especially for walking." He then looked around with a questioning look. "That's what toes are handy for, right?"

"Yes, for walking and keeping balance," Cat approved, smirking, "I like fingers better though. They can do more stuff."

"Yeah," Vern agreed, "Fingers rock."

Then there was silence. Vern kept eating, but Cat stayed quiet, and the longer it was quieter, the more she wanted to hightail it out of there.

_Silence is bad, silence is bad, silence is bad_—

"So I guess I'll see you later huh?" Catherine asked, standing up quickly.

"Wha? Oh yeah, definitely," Vern answered and then grinned, "Bye."

Cat gave him a small smile, and then turned on her heel. Yes, she was random, but why was she talking about fingers and toes? She then fled to the nearest bathroom to pull out her hair and use it to strangle herself with.


	10. Nats and Hudson, a Simple Thanks, Memory

**A/N: Again guys, thanks for all of the encouragement. Sorry if this chapter sucks, as it's mainly dialogue without a lot of explanation. Also, for all of the Gordie and Vern fans who read this, they'll have some stuff in the next chapter, I swear. Especially Gordo. But enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: not mine except for the story part. The whole whip thing and the "they call me" thing are from Rent. And two chapters ago the whole "they say that I have the best ass in Castle Rock" thing was from Rent as well, and in the second chapter, I have Breakfast Club references. So yeah.**

Chris decided to cut the last twenty minutes of his 7th period early. Luckily it was study hall, so he wasn't missing any of his college course work. Somehow the teacher believed him when he asked to go to the bathroom, and he slipped out of the classroom door and headed straight towards the doors of the main building, having all of his books he'd need for the night. Chris pushed open the main heavy doors and strode out of the building. But as soon as he saw who was sitting on the steps, staring into space, he plopped himself down next to her.

"Nat-uh-lee," Chris pronounced in a sing song voice, "What's going on?"

"Hmm….not much," Natalie answered, "Just wondering how in the world someone becomes a priest or a nun."

"A priest or a nun?" Chris asked, laughing, "Are you interested in taking part of the Sisterhood or whatever it's called?"

"Shit yeah!" Natalie exclaimed excitedly, flapping her arms, "Why don't you become a priest? Then both of us will not have sex and watch other people do it! And then I don't know what happens."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Give up sex? You're…you're joking, right? These people don't actually not have _sex_, do they?"

"No sex!" Nats answered, smirking.

"Screw it then," Chris scoffed.

"No, that's the whole point, not to screw," Natalie corrected.

"Nats, I mean screw the plan to join the priesthood,"

"Because of no screwing?"

"Exactly."

"You screw?"

"Of course. On a regular, nightly basis."

"Aha!" Natalie cried, pointing straight at Chris with a shaking finger, "….That's why you always spend the night at Gordie's house!"

Chris snickered. "Nah. I just stay over there because of the bastard who lives in my house."

Natalie's giggly expression immediately turned sour. "Oh…"

"Yeah."

"Chris, why don't you just move out?" Natalie asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

"I can't," Chris answered despairingly, "I want to, but I can't leave them. I can't leave Debbie and Emery and Sheldon…."

"What about your mom?" Natalie questioned, curious.

"I don't know," Chris shrugged, "Sometimes she really does seem to care, but other times, she just….doesn't. She goes away a lot, especially when she knows my old man is gonna be drinking. Yeah…" Chris trailed off, an almost reminiscent expression taking over his face, his ocean-colored eyes staring ahead, "My mom always knows when it's one of my old man's drinking days. I don't know how, and I wish I did…."

"Is that where that shiner's from?" Natalie gestured towards Chris's right eye.

"Nah. That's from the football team," Chris responded nonchalantly.

"The _football team_? Holy shit," his friend swore violently, shaking her head, "They have it coming to them, those fucks….why'd they pound on….ohh, _right_. Your rich, popular, stunning girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," Chris immediately defended, "And now, she's not so popular."

"Oh, so you're _not _denying that she's pretty?" Natalie asked, a smirk on her face.

"Why should I lie?" Chris replied with an identical grin, "But you know, she's not too bad."

Natalie huffed. "What changes your mind all of a sudden? One minute she's the worst thing in the world, and the next, she's your dream girl?"

"I didn't say she was my dream girl, Nats," Chris pointed out, tensing up immensely, "And what changes my mind all of sudden is her behavior towards me. If you had seen her today….you'd understand. But my mind isn't really changed, it's just….persuaded a bit…shit, Nats, I don't know."

He held his arms out and shook his head. After what Jenna had done for him during lunch, he was now _really _unsure. She stood up for him. _In public_. And that's what a friend does. So how could she really be out to get him if she had already done all of this just for him?

Natalie eyed him with one light green eye. This boy needed to get out of "I don't know" land. She sighed, and turned her auburn head towards the lawn stretched out in front of them. And she saw him.

"Chris."

"Yes?"

"Have you ever heard of Hudson Scott?" Natalie asked distractedly, staring at the boy.

"Yeah," Chris responded dully, "He's some kind of drug dealer or something. Hangs around with—"

"Fuck man, that was a goddamn close one!" a voice shouted from behind Natalie and Chris, clearly talking to the Hudson, who was making his way near them.

"Hello Teddy," Chris greeted unenthusiastically.

"Chambers! What's shakin'? Got that Malone bitch under control now? Got a leash on her?" Teddy joked with a large smirk on his face, "I suggest a whip. That'll keep her under your command…"

He made a whip like sound and made his hand move with the motions of one.

"Ehehehee!" Teddy cackled, "Man, you better have under control or then you're the pussy in that relationship!"

Natalie's eyes widened alarmingly as Teddy's laugh again escaped his mouth. Oh my god, this guy's a _moron_!

"Theodore, cut the crap, would you?" a low, silky voice interrupted, "Laugh your ass off when you have the time for it. And when I'm not around."

Natalie smiled. That was more like it.

Teddy grumbled, "Whatever, asshole."

Chris, meanwhile, stared up at the owner of the voice critically. "Why doesn't he have the time to laugh? Where are you going?"

"Do I even know you?" Hudson Scott scoffed.

"You don't know him," Natalie stepped in and stood up, "But you should know me. They call me Natalie. Natalie Crandall, to be specific."

Hudson gazed at Nats briefly with his midnight blue eyes, studying her face and taking in her body. After a few moments, he smiled. Apparently she must have passed the test. "I'm Hudson. And I'm surprised I haven't seen you around before…I would have remembered at least catching a glimpse of you."

Teddy snorted loudly.

Hudson gave Teddy a piercing look which he ignored, but then went back to Nats, who was blushing profusely.

"Thanks," Natalie responded, putting seduction into her usually quirky voice, "But I've caught a glimpse of you before…and god, do I remember it well."

"Why thanks babe. Why don't you and I get out of here—"

Chris stood up suddenly, his fists clenched and his jaw set. Natalie didn't even know this guy….what the hell was she doing? What the hell was _he _doing messing around with her? He sounded a lot like a drugged up Ace Merrill. But even if he wasn't, he wasn't even going to let Natalie and Hudson alone for a fleeting second. And not only did he care about Natalie, but what about _Gordie_?

"Over my dead body," Chris seethed.

"Try me," Hudson drawled menacingly, yet taking a hold of Natalie's arm gently.

"Don't think I wouldn't," Chris responded viciously.

With her free arm, Nats gave her friend a small whack on the side. "Leave me be. Leave _us _be. Look Chris, I'm a big girl, in case you haven't realized. We're friends, not siblings, not a couple, we're friends. And friends let things be. So just do that, ok?"

And with that, Natalie led Hudson away, who was smirking a mile a minute.

Chris stood in surprised silence. She had never minded when he and Gordie had to stand up to other guys about her before….he was only concerned about her….he just didn't want her to get hurt. And if she was going to be chumming around with this guy, he knew that she would.

"Hey, hey—HEY!" Teddy shouted angrily after the two were strolling away arm in arm, "WHAT ABOUT ME AND YOU AND ANTHONY GETTING HI—"

Chambers was staring at him.

"Yes Chambers, I know I'm gorgeous, but you don't have to stare at me every five seconds like I'm in some goddamn pin-up calendar," Teddy lectured, trying to cover up his slip, "Jesus, what's with the world lately?"

"I could ask the same question," Chris mumbled.

"Yeah, well, who fucking cares? God, I could use a goddamn smoke…"

Teddy reached into the breast pocket of his t-shirt and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He eagerly grabbed one out of the pack and gazed at it.

"SHIT! Chambers, you got a fucking light?"

"Yeah," Chris replied, amused, tossing his ex-friend the lighter.

Teddy lit his cigarette, threw the lighter back to Chris, and inhaled deeply.

"God," Teddy sighed, smoke coming out of his mouth as he did so, "Smokes can just solve everything, can't they?"

"I thought your coke solved everything," Chris told him knowingly.

Teddy glared at Chris. "And it would be none of your fucking business if it did, would it?"

Chris huffed and jogged down the rest of the stairs. "You know, whatever Teddy. Just watch out for yourself and trust the right people, ok man?"

Teddy eyed him suspiciously as he trudged off. Gosh, that kid had to be the weirdest person ever.

* * *

Jenna dragged herself along the sidewalk after school let out, sighing every ten seconds. This had to be the worst school day she ever had. Nobody liked her anymore. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that people were going to disapprove and be awful towards her. But what she had no idea about and what shocked her was _how _awful they were to her. People rammed into her, knocked her books out of her hands, just sent her death glares, and one of her ex-friends even tried to put gum in her long, beautiful blonde hair.

She didn't get it. She didn't understand it at all. People were treating her like this, like she was the ground they strutted all over. And the severe, harsh fact of it all was that she was being treated like this because of the person she just started to hang out with. Because of that person's reputation, she suffered from all of this.

But it wasn't only she who had suffered today, she remembered. He had suffered too. But then she realized: he didn't just suffer from this today; he's been suffering this every day of his life.

Jenna swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. Could she possibly feel…guilty for treating him like that? No, no, she couldn't, he had deserved that treatment, unlike her. But at that moment she became conscious of the fact that Chris Chambers hadn't done anything to anybody.

Shit. She caught herself in a trap.

"Jenna?"

Double shit.

"Hey Chris," Jenna greeted half-heartedly.

Chris fell into rhythm with her and gazed at her. "You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Did she actually think that he couldn't see through that? He chose to not pick at it though, not knowing what would happen.

"Well umm, I can't….I just wanted to say….I never got to tell you….thanks," Chris finally stumbled out awkwardly, "For what you did for me, back at school."

Hell this _was _awkward. Chris never thought he'd be thanking the Queen Bee of the school for helping him out, and neither did she.

"Your welcome," Jenna replied just as uneasily, "You just looked like you were in some trouble so…."

"Well….it actually proves to me you might be serious about this whole thing," Chris told her.

"I may not have acted like it in the past, but I really do have a heart," Jenna confessed helplessly, crossing her arms.

Chris paused, mulling over his choice of words. He finally settled on: "Everyone has a heart. Some just put it out there more than others."

Jenna turned to look at him, surprise etched onto her face. When she looked back on it, it was one of the truest things she had ever heard before.

"Wow," she breathed.

"Yeah," Chris said with a shrug.

"You're deep."

"Really?" Chris snickered, "Is it actually possible, for me, Christopher Chambers, to be deep?"

Jenna gave him an evident look of pain. "Please don't do that to me, that's not fair."

"After everything I've been through, and one little comment isn't fair?" Chris asked incredulously, seeing the hurt on her face and suddenly feeling like a jerk. "I was just playing, honest. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

He couldn't hear her, but she murmured in response, "I never meant to hurt yours either."

After not hearing a reply, he tried again, "Really, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," Jenna shrugged it off.

They walked about ten feet in silence.

"What are you doing on this lovely Friday night?" Chris stroke up a random conversation, not really caring what she was doing tonight at all.

"Not much. I usually have plans," Jenna responded, a mischievous glint in her emerald eyes, "But thanks to you, I don't anymore."

Chris closed his eyes and covered his heart with his palm. "Oh the heartache! Oh the agony! Oh the shame!"

Jenna smirked at him. "I don't think you'd make a good actor."

"No?" Chris questioned in mock-surprise, "Ugh, more agony!"

"You're killing me, seriously," Jenna responded calmly.

"Aren't you a nice one?"

"Um ch-yeah."

"Ugh, whatever."

"Whatever to you too, buddy."

"Yeah well—"

"Do you want to come over to my house?" Jenna blurted out and then immediately her hands snaked their way towards her mouth.

Meanwhile, Chris' hands slipped into his jean pockets, a habit of his whenever anything nerve-wracking was going on. And damn, was this nerve-wracking. What could he say to her? In all honesty, he wanted to go. He wanted to go and spend time with her where they wouldn't be disturbed at all so they could just talk and be themselves. They wouldn't have to worry about the pressure around them. Since today, he trusted her more now. But would the mayor's house really be a good place?

"Jenna, this is the house your family lives in. Won't I be unwelcome and shooed out even before I got in?" Chris asked uncertainly.

"No. No one will even notice you're there. Even I'm barely noted when I come home from school, so they definitely won't see you. Come on, please?"

She didn't know why, but for some reason, she really wanted him to go.

Chris sighed, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair, "I know this is going to end up being some huge mess that I'm going to end up regretting getting myself into, but alright."

He patted her arm. And there were the butterflies. He took his hands off of her arm. And the butterflies were gone.

* * *

_He sat on the dewy grass, picking off the petals to flowers. Yuck. He hated flowers. They were too...blah. They were bland and stupid. What was the point to them anyway? They were just there and did nothing for the world, from what he knew. Just like mosquitoes. Flowers were just like mosquitoes. _

_Suddenly, he heard it. A sob. He turned around swiftly and saw a girl who looked around his age sitting about twenty feet away. Whoa, and a gorgeous girl at that! He instantly became curious about why such a sexy girl like her would be crying her eyes out. Investigation time! _

"_Hey," he greeted loudly, making sure that he was heard over her sobs._

"_Go away," the girl immediately ordered icily, not even looking up at him. _

"_That's not nice. You don't like company? You one of those recluses or something?" _

"_I said go away!_"

"_Hmm. Guess so." _

_He plopped down next to her while she continued her crying. He stretched his legs out and steadied himself with his hands._

"_Well, I'm Teddy. But everyone calls me...uh, Teddy. But you, my special friend, can call me anything you want. Teddy, Theodore, Sexy Beast, whatever your little heart desires."_

_The girl lifted her head and stared at him, her hazel eyes still filled with tears glaring daggers, while a ghost of a smile was on her face. "Well, my little heart desires for you to shut up and leave me alone, ok?" _

"_Jesus, what's with all the negative energy you're sending out?" he asked curiously, "You know, it almost sounds as if you don't want me around. But that's impossible. Because everyone wants me around."_

"_Then why are you alone right now?" the girl questioned, her head turned to one side to look at him. _

"_Ah, my mom kicked me out of the house for a little while."_

"_What'd you do?"_

_He shrugged. "Cursed her out. I was really making up an excuse. I hid a letter from her, but she got suspicious. But it was for her own good. She'd be on her death bed if she had read it." _

"_What did it say?" she asked, almost hungrily awaiting the answer._

_He paused before saying emotionlessly, "My dad died." _

_Her eyes widened and she suddenly felt extremely guilty. "I'm so sorry." _

_He shrugged again. "It's not that big of a deal. I haven't seen the fucker since I was fourteen. But...why were you crying?"_

"_My dad."_

"_What happened? He croaked too?"_

"_No," she replied with a short laugh, "No, he left me. He left me alone with my mom." _

"_Ah, you have a Saint for an old man then, huh?"_

"_Not anymore. He only left a telephone number and a note saying 'I love you, my baby girl'." _

_She couldn't help but let a few more tears slip down her face._

"_Hey, hey, don't cry, it'll be alright," he soothed, wiping away her tears with his thumb and index finger. Her skin felt so smooth and creamy..._

"_Thank you," she responded, taking a hold of his hand and studying it, "You have nice hands."_

_He smirked. "That's what they all say. But thanks."_

_She giggled, "Who's 'they'? Your girlfriends?"_

"_Don't have a girlfriend," he answered, smiling goofily at her, "Not yet at least." _

"_That shocks me," she replied, "You're too cute to not have a girlfriend."_

"_You think so? Tell that to the rest of the female Castle Rock community, Miss...?"_

"_Serena," she responded with a bright smile, "But don't call me Miss." _

"_Deal, Serena," he told her, an identical smile on his face. He already loved the way her name rolled off his tongue. _


	11. You Can't Always Get What You Want!

**A/N: Hi guys! Um, this might be my last update for awhile, school opens on Monday (EEK), but I might get another chapter out over the weekend (the next one will be a lot happier than the ending to this one). Sorry if I've got all of my time frame stuff wrong. Oh, and the line isn't working, so...you'll see what I'll do. TO RIVER! Love that man. Happy b-day, Rio, this goes out to you. **

Cat skipped down the sidewalk, humming Mary Had a Little Lamb. Humming was so her thing. Gordie had the writing. Chris had the peacemaking. Natalie had the…whatever random, weird thing Natalie had. And she got the humming.

But not only did Cat like to hum. She liked to sing. Loudly.

"MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB. LITTLE LAMB. LITTLE LAMB. MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB, WHOSE……"

She forgot the words.

"GOD DAMNIT MARY, FIRST YOU LOSE YOUR SHEEP, AND THEN I LOSE THE WORDS! Oh wait. That was Bo Peep who lost her sheep. Sorry Mary, forget I said anything."

People walking down the sidewalk gave her intrigued, weird, and absolutely terrified side glances. She shrugged them off. Who cared what anybody else thought? Well….there was one person whose thoughts she cared about.

Vern Tessio was so sweet and wholesome and genuine, unlike his football goons. Plus, he was drop-dead sexy. He seriously made a bit of an effort to talk to her….and what did she do? Speak for all of five seconds and then suddenly bail on him. Why was she so afraid of him? He didn't seem intimidating at all, but he did seem fun and he had that great, spastic, be stupid sense of humor.

She supposed it was just the inevitable. Guys had always frightened her. They made her feel so awkward and out of place sometimes….except for Chris and Gordie, that is.

Gordie.

Gordie.

What's he going to say about Natalie going out with that vile, loathing creature? He had to know about her going with him. Besides, maybe Gordie could put a stop to it before it even really started.

There was only one thing she could do.

"GORDIE, DON'T WORRY, I'M COMING TO SAVE THE DAY…WITHOUT MY CAPE THIS TIME! Shit. I misplaced it, _and _the matching belt."

**_RIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINE_**

"Holy Motherfucker," Chris breathed in awe.

Somehow, Chris and Jenna had made it to the Malone residence unharmed by any of the Richies, probably because they were all out busy getting drunk, having sex, and spending all of their parents' money on ridiculous things. The outside of the house (or should he say mansion?) was incredible, but the inside was just absolutely breathtaking. To Chris, it felt like he was stepping inside an ancient Victorian house, but added with a Southern plantation quality. Once you entered the house, there was a main, wooden winding staircase, bringing you to the next floor that wrapped around the entire house. The glass ceiling was ridiculously high. Elegant Pictures and portraits hung on every wall and the house was packed with mahogany and plush furniture.

Jenna turned to Chris with a small smile. "It's not _that _great. It's just a house."

"_Just _a _house_? I'm sorry, but are you _blind_? This place is incredible."

"Um, not really," Jenna corrected, fed-up at him gaping at her house.

"Whatever," Chris replied, shrugging his shoulders.

He took a few steps forward when he heard a growling, "No way are you wearing those shoes in here."

Chris turned around, raised an eyebrow, came back onto the carpet, and began taking his All Stars off. "Jesus Princess, hold your fire."

Jenna rolled her eyes while Chris stood up. He took a few steps in his socks and—

THUMP.

Chris fell backwards, hitting his head on the marble floor. Jenna rushed to him, panicked.

"Chris, oh my god, Chris, are you ok? Chris, come on—"

"Ugh…" Chris moaned, rubbing his dirty blonde head and sitting up.

"Are you alright?" Jenna asked, truly concerned, reaching to put a hand on his back.

As her fingertips grazed his backside, Chris jerked away from her. "I'm fine," Chris answered in a calm tone despite his physical rudeness towards her.

"You, uh…want some ice?" Jenna offered, sounding clueless as to why she was offering ice in the first place.

"Uh, some ice sounds great."

Jenna put forward her hand, pulled Chris up, and the two loped into the kitchen. Again, Chris was awe-struck. The kitchen was almost bigger than his own house!

"Here, sit on the counter," Jenna instructed patting the countertop with her hand.

Chris obeyed, and Jenna started getting an ice pack and rag together. While she did so, her mind wondered as to why she was doing this for him. Why? Did she feel sorry for him? No…no, she couldn't. ….Well, maybe a little. And besides, isn't it just instinct to take care of someone once they've gotten hurt? It didn't have anything to do with Chris personally; she would have done this for anybody. But would she really? When had she ever offered even a hint of kindness to anyone? The truth was, she hadn't really. But what with Chris almost getting beat up at school and now slipping on her own marble floor, she had felt a little twinge of pity and decided to act upon it. She had never known what sympathy had felt like, so what was wrong with acting upon the impulse? But why would that sympathy impulse come when _Chris _got beaten up today and nobody else?

With those thoughts racing through her head, she brought him the ice pack and let place it on his head.

"T-thanks," Chris stammered, stumbling over the 'T' from the sudden coldness of the ice.

"Your welcome," Jenna replied hesitantly.

Chris tilted his head at Jenna, studying her, when a big smile broke out onto his face.

"What?" Jenna asked curtly.

"Why do I get the feeling you don't invite people to your house and take care of them often?" Chris taunted, but she could tell from his eyes that he was only joking.

"No clue," Jenna responded airily, "So, you like the house?"

"I love it," Chris answered, looking up at the ceiling, "It's really nice."

"Thanks."

"I wish I could live in a place like this…."

"Well, I'm sure your house can't be _that _bad," Jenna figured, "I bet you have your own bedroom—"

"No," Chris interrupted, "I share one with my older brother. But it might as well be mine, he's hardly around anymore."

"Where's your older brother?" Jenna questioned, curious.

Chris shrugged, although he knew the answer plain and well. "I don't really know. He's best friends with Ace Merrill."

Jenna's emerald green eyes widened, making her look like prettiest bug ever on Earth. "Are you _serious_? Oh my god!"

"Yeah. He's such an asshole. Hey, my brother's an asshole too. Both of them are."

"You have _more _brothers?" Jenna asked, shocked. She would have thought Mrs. Chambers would have run out on her husband by two children.

"Yes," Chris responded patiently, "I have two older brothers, Frank and Richard (Everyone calls him Eyeball because of his funky eye. If he never got that eye, the regular girls would be after him.), and then I have two younger brothers, Emery and Sheldon. Oh, and the littlest in the family is Debbie, she's eight now."

"Whoa," Jenna breathed, her eyes showing genuine surprise, "Your family's pulling a Brady Bunch special."

Chris laughed, and suddenly, Jenna's heart pounded just a few seconds faster. She realized that was the first time she had ever heard him truly laugh.

"Yeah, that's our family. 'Wish we were as wholesome as the Bradys though. What I wouldn't give to be cheesy Bobby, doing all of his little crappy dance moves."

"Dance moves?" Jenna asked, amused and trying to ignore what he said before that, "He dances?"

"Yeah, they all do!" Chris responded enthusiastically, and then when he saw Jenna's confused face, he put on an act of shock, "Are you kidding me? You've _never _seen the episodes of the Brady Bunch where all the kids are on the dance contests dancing their asses off? Oh excuse me. _Horribly _dancing their asses off. Damn. Oh well, at least Jan's sexy—"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_!" Jenna interrupted in surprise and amusement, putting her hands up, "You think Jan Brady is sexy?"

Chris smiled sheepishly at her. "What if I answered yes?"

Jenna burst out laughing, clutching the counter. "Oh my god, _Jan _Brady? Not Marsha? Haha, _Jan_! You think Jan Brady is gor-gee-ous!"

"Shut up!"

"You think Jan Brady's got the bod!"

"Shut up!"

"…….Do you have wet dreams about her?"

"Shut up!" Chris exclaimed through his laughter, "Whatever gave you the idea to ask such a personal question?"

"I thought it was necessary to know if you were going to be hanging with me," Jenna lied teasingly. She honestly had no idea why she had asked the question. Did she actually want to know what (or who?) Chris thought about like _that_?

"Girl, you're just jealous because Jan Brady's stolen my affection and you haven't!" Chris claimed at the spur of the moment.

"Yeah, right. And I want to make out with the guy who played Ashley in Gone with the Wind," Jenna replied sarcastically, although she had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She didn't know what it was, but it hurt her a little emotionally. Was Chris serious?

"Eww! Eww!" Chris exclaimed, making a disgusted face, "Ashley from Gone with the Wind is a cowardly, stupid POS!"

"PO….S?" Jenna questioned, confused.

"Piece of shit," Chris answered, smiling.

"Very mature, Chambers."

"That's what they always tell me."

"You know, when you said that, I took it the wrong way. Seriously."

Chris laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, a lot of people take things the wrong way. They take the real thing and twist it into their own." Jenna hadn't noticed what he really meant by that.

They stared at each other, studying for a minute.

_She has a blue ring in her emerald eyes._

**His bruise on his jaw is going down.**

_Her skin's smooth._

**He has flawless skin, despite the cuts…the football team? His dad?**

_Her jaw is really defined. _

**His eyes are nothing but….ocean…..**

They began to get uncomfortable.

"Want to watch a movie? I'm sure I can find one on our T.V.," Jenna asked hesitantly.

Chris flashed her a smile. "Your pick."

**_RIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINERIVERLINE_**

Gordie sprinted down the street, trying to get to the Blue Point as fast as he could, before anything could happen….

His stomach lurched, and he thought for a second he was going to puke. But he knew that if he did, he would still keep running. For her. He liked her so much: from her quirky and random phrases to her eccentric looks she would give him.

He had always thought that she had liked him too, if only a little bit. It was the way she'd glance Gordie. Her green eyes perfectly relaxed yet concentrating on him. Her mouth quirked up a little to the left in a bit of a half-smile, and she would always have her beautiful, straight, fiery red head resting gently on one hand, the other placed on the table she was sitting at or in her lap, her legs were always crossed in a "whatever" attitude, Indian-style, and her body would be slouching some, so her breasts hung a little and her torso became more prominent—

Gordie knew that if anyone could read his mind at the times she'd been staring at him, they'd give him free room and board at a mental hospital for life, equipped with a straight jacket and tranquilizers. Togus or bust!

He was so scared. What if that creep made her do something she didn't want to? What if she did something _wrong intentionally_? What if he killed her, murdered her, slaughtered her into tiny bits and pieces?

He knew he was hopeless. But he just _cared_, he cared so _much_. If something ever happened to her, it was the end of his world.

Once he realized he had reached the Blue Point, he scurried his way in there, The Rolling Stones entering his ears upon his arrival. Despite how filled the restaurant was with people, he was determined to find her, shoving tons and tons of popular teenagers away. He could barely see a foot in front of him, it was so crowded. But then there they were: in a booth in the back, away from all of the popular people. He stomped his way towards them without being seen and picked up some of their conversation:

"I love it. It's man's greatest invention!"

"You think _cheese_ is man's greatest invention?" the bastard asked, practically scolding her for saying such a thing. Gordie's insides burned at his tone. That was the way Natalie _was_, god damnit; she said weird things like that!

"What's it to you if I do?" Natalie questioned back sharply.

"Nothing, nothing at all. I like cheese, I seriously do," the deathly pale asshole responded, waving his hand as if it were nothing, "But since I'm treating you out to cheeseburgers, cheese fries, cheese toast….and for you, a Diet Coke with a piece of cheese in it—"

Even Gordie wrinkled his nose at the thought. Ew. Suddenly though, he felt like laughing. That was such an original thing.

"—you have to promise to let me demonstrate to you, in my opinion, man's greatest invention."

That's when he decided to step in.

"What would that be?" Gordie hissed, standing by the table, "A condom so you can fuck the shit out of her?"

He reached out for Natalie's arm and pulled her out of her seat easily. They started to march off, but Hudson was following them.

"Hey man, she's a big girl. Let her take care of herself."

"Well she's obviously not a big girl yet if she's hanging around with you."

"You are holding her back, you son of a bitch," Hudson quipped piercingly yet softly, "You've got to let her go, she's her own person. You're holding onto her life, you motherfucker."

Gordie turned to stare at him for a moment. Was what he said true? Was he really holding Natalie on a leash? Between him and Chris, did Natalie ever get a chance to be with someone, to go out with someone? He realized he had been preventing it in the hopes she would come around herself and ask him out.

"Come on, Nats."

She broke free from his grip. "No."

Gordie gawked at her. "Why not?"

Natalie put her hands on her hips, shaking her head, starting off calmly, "Gordie, how come you never let me have fun on my own? I always have to be with you or Chris. Always. I've never gotten this chance to let loose and be free and make my own choices. It's like I've been in chains for all these years. And it's not fair. I want to go out and _live_, damnit! I want to just…_be_. I just want to exist and be something, even it's just to myself, even if it's just to prove to myself I can live on edge, that I can take a few risks in life. I just want to prove to myself and others that I can make it, that I can live, that I can grow-up! I don't want to be sheltered anymore!"

By this point she was yelling, "The fact is…I don't really _need _you anymore, because you know what, without you, I'll be ok! Without you, I'll be _better _than ok! Without you, I'll be having fun and playing it smart! _Without you_," she seethed, her teeth clenched, loving the way the two words flowed off her tongue, "……all of the stuff I want to do, I will be able to. _Without you_. You can't stay young forever, Gordie. This, all of this," Natalie stretched her arms out hopelessly, "is preparation for the outside world. It _is_, and you can't deny it. But it's also living and learning….and that's what I want to do. I don't want to be sheltered by you anymore."

Natalie was close to tears as she finished.

"We're still friends, Gordie."

Gordie looked up at her from the floor, trying to keep his inner sobs under control and his doe brown eyes shining with hurt and pain. "I just…I just wanted to make sure that y-you were ok and weren't hurt, but it's obvious you're n-not so," Gordie stammered, walking backwards towards the door, "S-so I'm gonna go now, ok? I'll leave you to live your life without any help, any protection, any guidance, any friendship, and any l-love!"

"Gordie—"

"That's what you wanted, wasn't it?" Gordie suddenly snarled, and he and Natalie were both shocked by his tone. But he continued. His insides were on fire, but his heart was frozen. He threw out his arms in a careless gesture. "I hope your happy now. You're gonna get your freedom, your life, whatever the hell you said. But don't expect it so easily in the outside world, Natalie. And even in the inside world, you—"

"—_can't always get what you want_," The Rolling Stones crooned from the radio.

Gordie turned and heard the bell on the door sound.

And the moment it did, he took off running.


	12. Woe is We

A/N: I'm sorry! And I know some of you want to rip me from the inside out for not updating….I've just had a really stressful first month as being a freshman in high school. There's so much homework, much more work, it's insane. Plus, the upperclassmen hate us, so it basically sucks. Maybe you guys could make me feel better with some reviews? And I apologize again! Oh, quick note: I don't have barely any Serena/Teddy stuff going on in this chapter, but don't worry, they'll take up most of next chapter. It's just in every chapter, something has to happen with Chris and/or Jenna, since they're the main characters. Yet, this is more of a Gordie and/or Natalie and/or Hudson chapter. Enjoy though! Hope it was worth the wait!

"I hate school! IT NEEDS TO DIE!" Anthony shouted obnoxiously, slamming his locker closed with a reverberating _BANG!_

"_If you don't shut the fuck up,_" Teddy seethed, his teeth clenched, his hands to his ears, "_I'm going to personally do it for you_."

"You do know that the only way to keep Anthony from talking his for him to be locking lips?" Hudson inquired with a smirk.

Teddy gave him a death glare. "I'll be bisexual; I don't give a flying fuck. Anything to shut his goddamn trap…."

"Dude, you're just pissed because you got wasted and still have your hangover," Anthony told his friend knowingly, nodding his head in encouragement.

Teddy closed his eyes and took off his glasses. "I could have gotten a great hit last night. But _no_! What happens? Instead of our usual session, I get fucking _dumped _for some goddamn, virgin weirdo who looks like a smushed, bleeding cherry, and I have to get drunk instead," Teddy fumed quietly. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked fiercely at Hudson. "I hate you."

"Fair enough."

"While we're on the fucking topic, how was your date with the Cherry anyway? You do her yet?" Anthony questioned, the three starting to weave their way around other students to get to one of their three academic classes.

"Nah, not yet," Hudson responded, yawning, "I'm waiting on her. She's weird, but she's got a lot of energy. Bet she'll be real good, so I'm gonna wait."

"Fuck, you kidding me? Just fucking _do _her, man," Teddy moaned.

He always despised it when Hudson got like this. He'd always want to wait to do it with a girl. Why do that when you can just fuck and get it over with, toss her out afterwards? That's what _he _used to do with his girls, until Serena. Serena was the only girl he waited on. And damn, did he regret waiting on her now. It gave him time to _know _her, and after they did it, he couldn't just toss her out. Teddy actually liked her. But it was _she _who tossed _him _into the trash a few days before school started back up. Shit, he hated her.

"No way, man," Hudson protested with a mischievous smile, "Cherry is a total innocent girl, her two best guy friends have been keeping her cooped up or something trivial like that. I can totally _manipulate _her, turn her into a total bad ass. She won't know what the fuck hit her!"

Teddy wasn't crazy about the idea, but he ignored that thought. Why try to stop, he knew that Hudson was going to go through with it anyway. Teddy just didn't like the thought of changing someone's personality. They are who they are. _I am who I am. Take me for what I am! _Damn, why couldn't he have just shaken her by shoulders when she wanted to leave and just scream that at her?

"Love the idea, Hudson. Ah, shit, I forgot to do my Geometry homework, you think Teacher would kill me? You know, I hate that teacher, I don't even know her goddamn name!"

"Anthony…."

"Yes Teddy?"

"Shut. The _fuck_. Up."

* * *

Jenna strode into the girls' bathroom. She felt like she was going to throw up. Today was the worst day she had ever lived. So far. She just _had _this feeling that tomorrow would be worse, and probably the day after that, and maybe even the day after that. Some girl she had never even spoken to before came up to her and said "You know, I always looked up to you. Now I know that I've been looking the wrong way."

What a stupid thing to say. It didn't even make that much sense; besides the obvious fact that the girl was disappointed in her.

But _why_? What did Jenna ever do to these people? She never harmed them in any way……

Well, ok. She did trip a girl once. And last year she did reject this dorky guy who asked her to the dance first, and then went with one of the hunks from the football team. But so what? This was senior year, did any of that old stuff matter anymore? She never meant to hurt anyone's feelings by hanging out with Chris Chambers. Why was everyone taking it out on her? Is this what Chris' friends have to go through everyday too?

She suddenly realized that nobody knew who Chris' friends were, exactly. They only knew Chris, and by that, they knew his reputation. She never knew how much a reputation could affect other people.

The door to the bathroom opened

"She's such a slut."

"I dislike—no, hate—no, _loathe _Jenna Malone."

"She was always a bitch."

Her ex-friends.

"Hey, hand over the lipstick."

"Here."

"But why would she stoop so low so suddenly? She had class!"

"Probably because the Chambers trash is easy since everybody hates him and no one will do it with him. And since Jenna's a chronic nymphomaniac—"

"A what?"

"A sex maniac! Jesus, do I have to explain everything? Anyway, since she's such a nymphomaniac, she probably thought she could do him without any complaints."

"But _every _guy in Castle Rock was in love with her! Why _him_?"

"Maybe he was the only one willing to play those sex games she loves. You know—she plays the poor princess who gets raped by Jack the Ripper. Not that Chris Chambers needs to pretend to be Jack the Ripper…."

"Dang, she really is crazy. I heard that her parents are killing themselves. Not literally, but they are seriously mad at her."

"Really? Wouldn't be surprised. I heard she gave some of their money to Chambers, and he spent it all on booze. Now they're practically bankrupt."

"Laura told me that she can hear Jenna and Chris having sex upstairs, since you know, she lives right next door to her."

"Sarah said that they've been having threesomes with that anorexic gay boy…you know the one, with the hot dead older brother."

"I heard that too! Not to mention that his little redhead gal pal is dating a druggie."

"Eww, how totally rocker."

"Alright guys I'm finished."

"About time, huh?"

"Can we just go?"

Once the door to the bathroom slammed shut, she immediately emerged from her stall. What was she going to do? Turning towards the door, something red in the mirror caught her eye. Staring back, her mouth fell open in shock. On the mirror written crudely with fire engine red lipstick was the message.

**_JENNA MALONE IS A DIRTY CHRIS CHAMBERS WHORE!_**

**_C.C. THE GUTTER RAT AND J.M. THE GUTTER HOE_**

**_FOREVER!_**

Jenna let the tears come.

* * *

"Hey man," Chris greeted as he sat down next to his best friend.

Gordie nodded in response, staring off at a different lunch table.

Chris glanced over, but there was no need to. He already knew who was over there.

"Gordo, trust me, it'll get better, I promise."

"Just," Gordie whispered, his voice cracking, and he couldn't continue.

Chris could feel the pain radiating off of his friend. At that moment, he suddenly wanted to grab Natalie and pull all of her red hair out. What did Gordie ever do to her? He wanted to ask. As he pushed her, he would shout, "How could you treat Gordie like that, huh Natalie? Why would you stoop so low, huh Natalie, why? That's not fair, Natalie. You're being as unfair as anybody in this whole fucking town!"

But then that same thought came into his head. _Trust me Natalie. I know what unfair is. _

And when he looked at Gordie, he knew that he was being cheated. But he couldn't hurt his friend, no matter how much she had hurt Gordie. No, violence was never a good route. _I know that for sure. _Damn. Why did Chris know all of these things? And why did he have to learn them the hard way? What did he ever do to the world?

"I loved her, man."

Chris nearly choked. Funny thing was, he wasn't eating or drinking anything.

"_What_?"

"I loved Natalie. I _loved _her. I loved her I loved her I loved her _I loved her_."

Chris rubbed his eyes. "Jesus Christ, Gordie." This was not going to be good.

Gordie stared at his best friend blankly. He suddenly realized that telling Chris his feelings about Natalie wouldn't help the situation any. What would it do besides make him more depressed? Telling feelings…he had never been too good at that. Feelings were so complicated: they could trap you instantly, so you're always stuck in a situation. Or most of the time, you have no idea what the hell you're even feeling. He really hated the fact that he couldn't just spit out what he was feeling to Chris, to Natalie, to Cat, to everybody. But he got the feeling that even if he stood up on the one, lone table in the middle of a room filled with people and shouted through a megaphone, no one would hear him. No, no, they'd hear him. But they just wouldn't pay him any attention. The story of his life.

Gordon Lachance: No One Even Bothered to Listen. Coming to a bookstore near you.

That was why he wrote: his feelings spilled all over the page. But he wasn't sure if writing was going to cut it this time around on the endless merry-go-round of "Feelings". Gordie always seemed to ride that little horse that was labeled "Depressio, the Rather Sad Pony."

_Whoa_, Gordie suddenly thought, _I really am twisted_.

* * *

"Graawww, dum dum dum duuun….dun dun dun duuum…lalala, mhm-bop—"

"What in the insane hell are you doing?"

Cat's insides turned to mush. Excited and embarrassed mush. She closed her dark eyes.

"Vern?"

"Hey Cat, how ya doin'?"

"Ahhhhh, pretty good. And yourself?"

"I'm having fun listening to you make up your own theme song!" Vern exclaimed, sitting down next to her on the tile floor and leaned against a locker.

"That's what I do best," Cat remarked with a grin.

"Hey, me and you should, you know, collahebrate, or whatever the word is."

"Collaborate?"

"Yeah, that. We should totally make up a theme song together."

Cat's stomach flopped and her heart soared. "I'd I'd I'd….love that."

"Yeah me too. But why are you sitting out here by yourself?" Vern questioned curiously, "You do have friends, don't you?"

Cat laughed. "Of course, Silly Willy Billy. But they're all being weird lately."

"Well gosh, wouldn't you fit in with them even more then?" Vern teased.

"Ha-ha-ha…..yeah, you're probably right. But they're being a different type of weird than I am. They are being the bad type of weird."

"What are they doing?" Vern asked concernedly, "Are they bothering you?"

Cat considered herself for a moment and then answered, "Yeah, yeah, they actually are. Chris is being best friends with the ex-most popular girl in school, and he never has time to hang out with me anymore. He's all 'Well, I better go find Jenna.' Or even worse, Jenna finds him and he goes along with it. And she hates me. And I miss Chris. Gordie needs anti-depressants and will barely talk to anyone, Natalie is trying to look cool and is hanging out with druggies…she's actually _dating _one, Hudson Scott."

Vern's face paled and his beautiful (hey, couldn't she stare?) blue eyes widened. "Hudson Scott? Are you serious?"

Cat's face fell. "Yeah, why?"

"Shit, he got my ex-best friend into drugs. Teddy Duchamp?"

"Yeah, yeah," Cat could recall the name from Gordie or Chris, "I've heard of him. And I'm sorry."

"Yeah, yeah me too…."

Cat stared at him.

"What?"

"There's something else you're not telling me."

"What? No there isn't….maybe…."

"Vern…."

"Alright!" Vern exclaimed with a little yelp, "Have you heard of Ace Merrill?"

Cat's dark brown eyes widened. Of _course _she had heard of Ace Merrill, who hadn't? He was a legend here in town. A legend for being the only person to drink and screw around more than the Chambers. He was also one of the roughest guys around. Cat remembered something about a story getting around that he had threatened a twelve year old kid with a knife once a couple of years back. But for some reason no one could fathom, girls _loved _him. He would always be able to reel in the girls. The only problem is, they'd never be cast back out to sea. Ace had disappeared from the town, everyone noticed, when a girl his age named Fredericka Fergusson was found murdered in an alleyway. The police never found him. Rumor has it that he still lurks around Castle Rock, waiting for young girls to prey upon. That's why no one stays out past 12:30 in Castle Rock. Ace Merrill had truly become a legend.

"What about Ace Merrill?"

Vern looked up at her and gulped. "He's Hudson's older cousin. Didn't you know that?"


	13. That Drip of Hurt

A/N: Hello! I'm sorry it's been so long! And I'm sorry this chapter is so short! But major issues arise for pretty much everyone's two favorites of the four guys (a majority, I guess you would say). But it's important and I wanted to get it out as soon as I could. So here it is. Oh, a warning: serious shit in here. It'll probably get worse as the story goes on. So….you can skip over it if you want, but I wanted to add a little spin into these characters, make them even more tortured. So away we go!

Serena kicked her legs out in frustration as she sat aimlessly on her bed. She should be rejoicing: word was Jenna had broken down and sobbed her heart out in the bathroom today at school. Plus, Chambers was getting the shit beat out of him lately. Everyone would love her now….she wouldn't be second best anymore.

But nothing was happening concerning her: it seemed as if everyone was too busy making their lives miserable to pay attention to her. There was something she had to do….

But she wanted to do something _now_. Anything. She was stuck at home, without Jenna and without a date. A date…..she hadn't had one of those since the summer.

It wasn't because no one had asked her. Everyone wanted a piece of her, of course. But she hadn't _accepted _anyone's offer since _his_. And she was with him. And they had fun. And then she dumped him.

_You had to ditch him_, she told herself. If she hadn't of, she'd be nothing right now. She'd be in the place Jenna was right now: hell.

She did like him though. She saw what she was looking for in a guy: herself. He was wild, he took chances, he was fun, he knew how to party, and he could be sweet sometimes. Sometimes, he got a little crazy though. Sometimes, he scared her shitless.

But what was she to do? She could still have plenty of guys at her beckon call. But she didn't want any other guys. But she didn't want to _date_ him. And she certainly didn't want to be a lesbian either. Or single.

She grinned to herself. Hookups, those would be nice. She could almost taste him right now.

Why not go out tonight and have some fun?

But she'd have to find someone to have fun with first…..

* * *

Jenna opened her front door and a smile immediately was on her face.

"Hey Jenna," Chris greeted, and then he stepped into the light.

The smile was instantly wiped of her face and her heart stopped.

She took it all in: the bruises, the cuts. But she looked into his eyes, and there was where she saw the real raw pain.

"Chris, what happened?!" she questioned, rushing him inside, "Is there anything I can do? Ice? Let's get a towel for the blood—"

"You sure seem motherly this evening," he remarked, a small grin on his face.

She clutched his arm and led him quietly into the kitchen. She sat him on the counter, the same place he had been just a few days earlier, and she scurried about, grabbing the necessary materials she needed to help him.

She wetted the cloth she had and gently went to dab his face, but he turned his head away just in time. He sighed deeply and looked down at the counter. He couldn't let her help him. He couldn't invite other people into his own problems. They had enough to concentrate on themselves. He wouldn't let people take care of him anymore.

"Chris?"

He hesitantly looked up at her and her eyes were so concerned. Those emerald eyes bored into his and he could feel her staring into his being, into his soul, as if she was trying to discover something hidden in the depths of his conscience.

"Yes?"

"Can I help you?" she asked genuinely.

"Not really," he responded softly.

"Why not?"

"There's really nothing you can do," he told her, patting her hand.

"Yes there is," she stated determinedly, "There's always something you can do to improve. And I want to help you, and I'm doing that right now whether you like it or not."

He gazed at her, surprised by her firm kindness.

"Ok," he gave up.

She dabbed the cloth at a cut right below his right eye.

"What happened?"

"Daddy Dearest came home earlier tonight," he replied bitterly, and she was stunned at his tone.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, moving onto his neck.

"Not your fault," he told her, "No one's fault but his and mine."

She immediately ceased her nursing and looked at him.

"What do you _mean _it's your fault?" she questioned accusatorily.

"I let him do this to me," he answered with a shrug, "I don't stand up for myself."

"Then stand up for yourself!" she exclaimed, "That's not fair: you're blaming yourself for something you didn't do. You're not beating yourself up, you're not the one giving yourself all these bruises, all these cuts…"

Suddenly, a realization; a theory, dawned on her.

She stared at him quizzically, hoping she was wrong. "Or…are you?"

He stared right back, and soon it was staring contest between the two of them. But his eyes showed the truth. He faltered first.

He looked away from her and gulped, pretending to be concentrated on something else.

"Chris, please look at me."

He kept still, but tears formed in his eyes. She suddenly grabbed his wrists to make sure. Once she did, she threw them down in disgrace, almost as if she'd catch a disease from him.

"I thought you were stronger than that," she told him truthfully, disappointed.

"Sorry. I'm not as strong as you and my friends like to believe," he responded, his tone soft, but with an edge to his voice.

"Chris…take your shirt off."

"What?" he croaked, shocked.

"You heard me. Take it off."

He gave her a confused look, but he hesitantly pulled it over his head. Jenna took in how simply beautiful his body was, but then remembered her task.

"Stay still," she commanded, and she pulled herself close and her hands roamed over his back, "Welts. I knew it. That's why you didn't want me to touch your back the other day to help you off of the floor."

"So what?" Chris asked, his voice low and snappish. The tears were still in his eyes, but he fought against them.

"Why are you hiding from the fact that your father beats you?"

He stared hard at her, now quite angry. "I _don't _hide the fact. It's been _you_, and all of your friends. The whole _town _pretends that I don't get beaten. They don't want to get themselves involved in anything that isn't their business. And that's selfish of them. It _was _selfish of you. And now it feels like you're trying to blame me for having no help."

"I'm _not_!" Jenna declared, "It's not your fault!"

"And you know, I still don't understand," Chris continued, ignoring her, "Why the sudden turnaround? You've been nice and funny and sweet, I'll give you that. But why?"

"I've never felt like this before!" Jenna cried, slamming her hand down on the counter top, catching Chris' attention, "Yeah, ok, I thought you were awful and mean and a lowlife. But I was _wrong_. You're not! And…and I don't think I've ever felt the way I feel when I'm around you!"

Chris' eyes widened and he gazed at her. "Jenna…."

"What?" she snapped.

"What's happening here….between us?" he asked slowly.

She met his gaze and paused.

"I don't know," she responded truthfully, "But I know I don't want you hurt: and that's what you are right now. Just let me help you."

She reached out and stroked his arm. "It's ok, Chris. It will all work out."

"I know," he sighed, "I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

* * *

Serena climbed over the chain-link fence that surrounded his house. She licked her lips, eager for his taste. She made her way towards the one-story shack and bent over so she couldn't be seen through the windows. His mom might be home, but she didn't care. He probably brought sleazy girls over all the time. She could feel her heart racing, her energy pulsing. She hadn't had fun in such a long time, and here was her chance.

She crept to his window, opened it skillfully, and slinked her way in. It was pretty much pitch black, like no one was home. She frowned. What would he be doing now anyway?

Serena made a move towards the light switch but then she saw it: a tiny flash of light, a flashlight. She turned. The closet.

She tossed her hair, put on a smirk, and strode confidently to the closet door. She flung it open.

"Teddy, let's go—"

She stopped.

He gazed up at her dreamily, a far off expression on his face. His eyes were glazed over, and there was white powder smeared on his nose, his cheeks, his shirt, his pants: everywhere.

"Hey Serena!" he greeted enthusiastically.

Her mouth had opened slightly in surprise, and her eyes showed nothing but confusion and disbelieving. She suddenly felt drained of energy and yearning. She didn't have that rush of sexiness she had felt on her way over. Yet, her heart was still pounding.

"Want to join me?" he asked, taking a minute to stand up.

"No, I don't want to join you!" she exclaimed harshly, backing away, "I'm not a druggie, Teddy Duchamp."

"Why not?" he questioned like she was an idiot.

"Because I'm not big on risking my neck like that, unlike you," she spat.

He stumbled towards her. "Just having fun, Sere. We can still have fun." He reached towards her and stroked a hand through her hair.

"Not while you're like that, no fucking way!" she protested, pushing him away.

He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to his chest, despite her struggle. "Come on, Serena. Just like old times."

"Get the hell off of me!" she screamed, hitting his chest.

He hugged her close, breathing in the scent of her hair as if it too were a drug. "I miss you, Serena. I miss you so much."

Suddenly, they held each other at arms length.

She stared at him, her eyes flashing. "Shut up! You're talking nonsense!"

"No, I'm not."

"You're high!" she told him and herself, "That's why you're saying that! You don't miss me and I don't miss you, I just came over to hook up!"

"Then let's hook up!" he decided, planting his lips on hers.

It was nothing like it was in the summer, or that night in the alleyway. He used to kiss with a hunger and a passion like she had never felt before, and it would make her even more lustful. But this…this was just gross. He practically slobbered on her, his tongue suffocating her. Luckily, she managed to get him off of her.

"Don't you ever kiss me _again_!" she ordered, backing away towards the window.

"Serena," he whispered, his head tilted at her, confused and looking broken.

Despite how his look moved her, she could never stay with him, even for just physical things, not in this condition.

"Please, just leave me alone!" she begged, and with that, she slipped out the window.


	14. How I Know You

A/N: Who wins at life? I didn't forget yall!

"_After you, mademoiselle," Teddy offered, holding the door to the Blue Point diner open and gesturing with his other hand._

"_Why thank you," Serena responded with a deep curtsy, "But may I suggest a discarding of the foe French accent?"_

_The two slid into the first open booth they saw. _

"_Hey, I'm French! It's nat-u-ral," Teddy pronounced sophisticatedly, "And you're supposed to be a Richie. Jesus." _

_Serena knew he was just kidding, but somewhere in there, she could feel the sting of an insult. Her cheeks lightly burned. _

"_Being rich and popular has nothing to do with being French," she pointed out. _

_Whoa, Teddy thought. She hit the nail on the head. _

"_Is it _that_ obvious?" Teddy questioned sarcastically. _

"_Well, not to lower your self-esteem or anything, but it's pretty obvious. I've never seen you around before," Serena answered truthfully, "What's your deal?" _

_Teddy sighed. Great, an honest one. _

"_I don't have a deal," Teddy shrugged, "I've been here my whole life."_

"_Really?" she questioned, disappointment creeping into her. Clearly this guy didn't have a popular reputation…_

"_No shit," Teddy snorted, "I'm—"_

_He stopped. Serena stared at him in awe…or was it fright? _

"_Girl," he started bluntly, "Have you heard people curse before?"_

"_Of course I have," she snapped, "It's just…well…"_

"_Only in the movies?" Teddy questioned with a chuckle. _

_Serena glared. "So what?" _

"_Oh come on, you've got to let one out."_

"_No."_

"_Come on."_

"_No."_

"_Do it."_

"_No."_

"_Do it."_

"_No." _

"_Do it." _

"_No."_

"_Do it."_

"_WHY ARE YOU SO GODDAMN STUBBORN, YOU FUCKING LITTLE SHIT?"_

_Everyone in the restaurant immediately whipped their heads around to stare at Serena. All was silent except for the sound of Teddy's clapping. _

"_Congratulations!" Teddy cheered, "You've succeeded in Cursing 101! Now I'm in the mood for a goddamn beer. You want one, bitch?"_

_Serena smirked. "Abso-fucking-lutely."_

_Suddenly, what looked like the manager stormed towards them._

"_Hey, hey you kids! No cursing in my restaurant!" _

_Teddy looked him up and down lazily. _

"_Whatever, faggot."_

_The manager's eyes widened. "What did you call me?"_

"_Ah, nothing," Teddy answered, "It's not that big of a deal, man. Why give a damn?" _

"_Buddy, this is your last chance," the manager warned._

_Teddy shrugged. "Ah, who gives a fuck?" _

"_GET OUT!" the manager shouted, flailing his arms around. _

_Teddy grabbed Serena's hand and they were both out of the restaurant in a flash. They sauntered down the street in silence, still loosely holding hands. They turned to look at each other and they both burst out laughing. _

"_That motherfucker," Serena rasped, clutching at her chest. _

"_Tell me about it!" Teddy exclaimed raucously, "What bitch was up his ass? Ehehehehe!" _

_Serena turned to look at him in shock. Did that sound actually come out of his mouth? It was actually kind of cute and funny…even a little bit of a strange turn on…_

"_Ah Teddy, you're pretty funny," Serena remarked, her laughter ceasing. _

"_You ain't too bad yourself…I like that: abso-fucking-lutely. Can I borrow it sometime?" Teddy asked. _

"_Hmm…"_

"_Pwease?" Teddy begged, his caramel eyes wide, his lips…his rather full lips, in a pout. _

"_Well…" Serena trailed off and then smiled, "Ok."_

_Teddy's expression immediately changed, and he started jumping up and down. _

"_YES YES YES YES YES—"_

_Serena reached out and put her hand on Teddy's head to stop him, amused. _

"_No." _

* * *

Jenna was alone for the day. Chris hadn't shown up at school: he was probably too sore from his beating from his father last night. _Or he's too embarrassed to show his face_. In more ways than one, Jenna decided. He didn't want the stares he gained everyday from the wary, superior students. And he didn't want to face her, she reasoned.

Was he embarrassed? It wasn't a thing he needed to be embarrassed about: but he needed help. She knew that her help would be futile though: she tried to help him last night and it failed. He needed someone who _really _knew him, better than she did. Someone who understood him. There was only one person.

She found him, predictably, with his nose in a thin, red book in the library. She came up behind him and tapped on his shoulder, making him jump.

"No, no, I didn't kiss her, I swear, don't hurt me!" he exclaimed.

"Kiss who?" Jenna asked eagerly.

Gordie stared. "Oh, it's just you. I thought you were….someone else."

"Right," Jenna sighed, "Look, I have to talk to you."

"Well, in reality, we're already talking, but I'm assuming that you need to tell me something important?"

"Could you not be so difficult for five seconds?" she snapped, "And yes, that's what I mean. We need to go to someplace quiet."

"Look around," Gordie gestured, "We're in a library."

"Stop!" Jenna huffed, "I'm serious!"

"So am I."

She roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him off into the corner of the library, pushing him against the wall so he couldn't escape.

"You listen to me, Gordie, or I swear I'm gonna _hurt _you," she hissed.

"Ok, ok. What is it?"

She sighed deeply, "Its Chris. He's…..he's been hurting himself. Emotionally and physically."

Gordie stared at her expressionlessly. "What?"

Her brow furrowed, and she struggled with the words on her lips. "Chris has been c-cutting himself."

"No…no," Gordie decided scornfully, "No, you're lying. He's not doing that."

"He _is_!" Jenna insisted, outraged, "I've seen the cuts! He came over to my house last night and—"

"Why are you lying?" Gordie asked, pushing her away roughly.

"I'm not!" she cried, reaching out for his arm, "Why do you think that I am?"

"I know Chris better than you," he sneered, "And I know he wouldn't do anything like that. He's stronger than that. He's the strongest person I know."

"Just because he does it doesn't mean that he's not strong!" Jenna argued, "He's just having a rough time, and as his friends, we have to help him!"

"No," Gordie snapped defiantly, "_You _can help him with these _imaginary _problems, and I'll deal with my real ones!"

He broke free from her and began to walk away. Jenna stared after him. How dare he say something so sinister! How could he be so selfish? What kind of a friend _was _he?

"Hey!" Jenna called after him.

He turned around swiftly, and as soon as he did, she slapped him hard across the face.

"Who do you think you _are_?" she hissed vehemently.

Gordie could only gape at her, shocked. She pushed past him violently and stormed out of the library.

Frustrated tears formed in her eyes, but she didn't dare let them fall. What was she going to do now, how was she going to help Chris? How could Gordie not believe her? Why would she lie about something like that?

Was Chris the only person who trusted her?

* * *

"Hey," Hudson greeted in a low voice.

"Hi!" Natalie exclaimed, "How are you, my darling?"

Hudson resisted making a face. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Oh hey, look. I've got a little fun planned for us tomorrow night."

"Really?" Natalie questioned, her eyes wide with glee, "What is it?"

"Ah, ah, ah, my lovely," Hudson refused, "I don't want to spoil the surprise."

"Aww…" Natalie pouted.

"But," Hudson cut in, smirking widely, "There's someone I want you to meet, and you'll meet him Saturday night."

"Who?" she demanded.

"That would spoil the surprise….but," he added in a whisper, grabbing her arm in a vice grip that shocked her, "I really want you to meet him. You'll _love _him."

He let go of her arm. "Get to class, lovely."

She nodded and set off. He smirked after her. She was so innocent. She won't even see it coming.

* * *

Chris came in late to school. The only reason he came in was to see how he did on his test, and he was going to avoid Jenna at all costs. He didn't want to see her. It was too embarrassing. Maybe she turned on him and told the whole school.

No, no, she wouldn't do that. She showed herself to him. It was too late. He knew what she was like.

He couldn't think. His thoughts were too jumbled, too random, too complicated to comprehend. He didn't even notice the stares he got as he sauntered into the classroom and sat in his usual seat in the back. He gazed straight ahead. He just wanted to sleep.

Why was he weak? He didn't used to be this way. He remembered the days when he was younger, when he was twelve. He was strong then. He stood up for his friends, for Gordie, for his beliefs. He fought for himself.

Or maybe he always was this weak. He remembered when he, Gordie, Vern, and Teddy went searching for the body of Ray Brower and when they finally found him, they were caught by the Cobras. He closed his eyes and remembered the scene. He remembered Ace drawing his pocket knife, ready to stab him in the neck. He stood up for his beliefs and was ready to risk his life: or did he want his life to be risked? He had said, "You're gonna have to kill me Ace." Had he wanted to be murdered?

Yes, yes he had.

Once a weakling, always a weakling.

He saw the deep, burgundy red "F" on his paper.

F is for Failure.

Failure.

_Failure_.

**Failure. **

_**FAILURE. **_

His arm itched for the identical color of the "F" to flow freely down it, except seared by a knife instead of a pen.


	15. Do I Know You?

A/N: HI YOU GUYS!!!!! Ugh, yall must be incredibly angry at me for not updating this sucker for six months, as pineappletop nicely pointed out. I feel so bad for abandoning this story and basically abandoning fanfiction….just so much has happened to me over these past six months, and it's really indescribable. Yet, I had an urge to write this. Sorry it's short, but at least it's something. I PROMISE, I SWEAR I will get more chapters rolling. But please enjoy!

"Cat! Cat, wait up!"

Catherine whipped around and her heart skipped a beat. Vern Tessio was headed towards her, his beautiful black hair flying ever so gently against the autumn wind, his mystical baby blue hues standing out from the fall colors….whoa. She seriously needed to stop. Who said that the reason why he wanted her to wait up was because he desired to be with her? Who knows what he might want…he might want to ask her a question about Natalie, about how butterflies mate, about why the earth is round…..

"Hey friend," Vern greeted with a knee-weakening smile as he caught up to Cat.

"Hi!" Cat exclaimed enthusiastically, her preconceived notions clear in her mind, "What are you up to, Verno?"

"Not much, really. Um, I was kind of wondering…" he trailed off.

"How butterflies mate?" Cat supplied hopefully.

"Nah," he shot down, "If you wanna come over to my house and hang out for awhile."

She nearly fainted. This was absolutely crazy…..why did he want her to come over? What did he mean by _hang out_? Oh no. If he wanted her to lose her virginity…..

"O-ok," she stammered with a small smile, "Sounds good."

"Fun, fun, fun!" Vern exclaimed playfully, "Let's go."

"Whoa. Right now?"

"Um. Yeah."

Her heart stopped.

"Ok."

* * *

"Gordie….earth to _GORDIE_!"

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "What?"

Chris smirked. "Could you stop imagining me naked for five seconds?"

Gordie grinned right back at him. What was Jenna's problem? There's no way Chris would be acting like this if he were cutting himself. He just wasn't a depressed person. Sure, Chris had his moments where his demons got the best of him, but everyone had moments like that. He should know.

Gordie sat Indian style on his bed, facing his best friend. "I can't help it. You're just so hot."

"Aren't I?" Chris sighed, "When you look up 'hot' in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of me."

"Um, sorry, I think that's _me_," Gordie protested.

"No. It's not."

"Yes. It is."

"When you look up 'fugly' in the dictionary, there's a picture of you."

"When you look up 'dick' in the dictionary, there's a picture of you."

"When you look up 'Gordie Lachance' in the dictionary, there's a picture of a fairy."

"…..Why would I be in the dictionary?"

"…..Because you're a fairy."

"….._Dick_."

"_Fairy_."

"Greaseball."

"Fag."

"Loser."

Chris paused. He looked away from Gordie and seemed to contemplate something.

"Let's stop," he decided suddenly, turning away from his friend and opening a comic book.

Gordie didn't understand. This was their usual thing. They always called each other names.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Chris responded quickly.

"You sure?"

"Yeah man, I'm fine."

Gordie felt apprehensive, but decided to drop it. What was with the sudden change in his mood? Chris usually didn't do this…he wasn't one for mood swings.

He hoped it had nothing to do with….

No. _No. _Just because Chris had a sudden change in his mood didn't mean that he was depressed and that he cut himself. No, Chris wasn't like that. Despite everything that happened to him throughout his life, Chris was strong. In fact, he had never met anyone as strong as Chris. Chris and Denny.

Denny. He thought about Denny a lot. Denny served as his voice of reason at night when he'd lay in bed with thoughts jumbling around in his mind, whether they were about his parents, school, Natalie, and most importantly, his future. He could just imagine a cloud of smoke leaking through the ceiling, the vapors spreading throughout his room. Then he'd see transparent feet, legs, hips, waist, torso, arms, shoulders, neck, and finally, a head. The darker places on the transparent body of Denny served as representations of where he had been hit and marred in the jeep accident. The strangest thing about Denny's form though was his eyes: his eyes were unnaturally wide yet their focus was impeccable, always maintaining a hold on Gordie.

Sometimes, the vision of Denny managed to scare Gordie shitless, yet at other times, he found himself at peace with Denny's death by imagining his form and hearing his voice murmur words of comfort.

Gordie felt extremely and utterly guilty when he realized that he didn't need Denny and that there wasn't much of a reason for him to mourn over him for as long as he did. Denny had always been in someone else: Chris. Chris was Denny….and more. What made Chris special was that he had his own demons to fight as well as helping Gordie out. It made Gordie feel selfish, but he realized that that was what Chris wanted to do: Chris was always looking out for the best interest in others, especially his best friend. How he could balance it all out, what with his drunk and angry father, his two older, bullying, and overpowering brothers, his little brothers and sisters, his worn out mother, his schoolwork, the taunting and unmerciful upscale teens, and helping his friends out, Gordie had no idea, but he found it to be truly remarkable and praise worthy for Chris to do all of that while keeping his head. He was special.

And yet…was he losing his head? All of that was insane…who else could do it all? Denny.

But look what happened to him…..

Something immediately snapped in Gordie. He suddenly came to the conclusion that there really was something wrong with Chris, no matter how good of a job he did of hiding it. There was no way he could survive so easily with all of those problems….he wasn't perfect.

"Chris," Gordie started, facing him, "I know something's wrong. I know you."

"Yes, you do know me very well," Chris agreed nonchalantly, still reading the comic book, "And since you know me, you should figure out that there's nothing wrong. Everything's alright. Peachy. Fine and dandy."

Gordie stared at him for a good while, taking him in. Without warning, Gordie suddenly hit the book out of Chris's hands, the book flying across the room. Chris jumped back, looking rather frightened.

"Bull_shit_," Gordie challenged, "Since I do know you, I know when you're lying, and you're doing that right now. Don't lie to me, man. I am your _best friend_. You've always been there for me, and it seems as if I never get to really be there for you. Clearly, you're hurting. So talk to me."

Chris stared at Gordie intently, searching his friend's doe brown eyes. Finally, with a sigh, he stood up.

"I have to go," Chris informed softly, trudging towards the door.

"Chris, don't—"

"I _have _to go," he emphasized more sharply, "I'll see you at school on Monday, ok?"

Without an answer from Gordie, Chris quickly slipped out the door and immediately shut it. Gordie contemplated going after him, but he decided to let him go. It might be best for him to clear his head and let him talk about it when he wanted to. He might even solve his own problems.

Yet, Gordie had a strong feeling that wasn't going to be the case.

* * *

_Riiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiing! Riiiiii_—

"Hello, hello, hello, this is the Crandall residence. Fortunately, we are not here to answer your call, and if you want us to call you back, we suggest leaving a message at the beep. That doesn't mean we will though. _BEEP_! "

"Hey Natalie, it's Hudson," Hudson greeted the answering machine, "I—"

"Oh Hudson, hey!" Natalie exclaimed into the phone, twirling the cord, "I just totally made that up on the spot. Pretty rad, huh? So what's shakin' bacon?"

"Not much," Hudson answered with a silent grimace. This girl could just be too much for him to handle sometimes. "I was just wondering if we were still on for our date tonight."

"Oh yes," Natalie responded excitedly, standing up, "We definitely are! I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do tonight than be with you."

Hudson made a face. Was this girl for fucking real? "That's…sweet," Hudson replied unsurely, "But great, I can't wait. When do you want me to pick you up?"

"You're picking me up?" Natalie asked, surprised, "You've never done that before. Why don't I just meet you there like usual? Where are we going anyway?"

"My dear, it's a _surprise_," Hudson drawled, his smirk wide, "I'll pick you up around nine."

"Nine? Don't you think that's a little late to be picking me up for?" Natalie questioned.

"Look, I'll see you at nine, _ok_?" Hudson told her, exasperated. He hung up the phone.

When the dial tone rang in her ears, Natalie stared at the phone curiously. How strange. Hudson was being more controlling than usual. Why couldn't he compromise on the means of their date, even if it was a surprise? Natalie really did like Hudson, yet there was some part of her that was just a little frightened of him.

No. Natalie knew Hudson. She trusted Hudson. What could go wrong?


End file.
